Preached by Gregory W Lee
2 March 2008
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Mark 14
12. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
13. So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.
14. Say to the owner of the house he enters, `The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?'
15. He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."
16. The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
17. When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve.
18. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me--one who is eating with me."
19. They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, "Surely not I?"
20. "It is one of the Twelve," he replied, "one who dips bread into the bowl with me.
21. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
-- Robert Robinson was just a little boy when his father passed away in 18th century England -- without a father in the house or a strong male figure to guide him, Robert quickly fell in with a bad crowd, and was soon given to all sorts of bad influences -- night after night he would go out carousing with his friends, drinking and gambling and enjoying all the vices the world had to offer
-- one night, he and his friends found a drunk gypsy woman, and they began to harass her and they demanded that she tell them their fortunes for free -- finally, she pointed a finger at Robert and said, "This one will live to see his children and his grandchildren"
-- that struck a chord with Robert -- he thought to himself, "If I'm going to see my children and grandchildren, then I'm going to have to change the way I'm living" -- shortly after this experience, he decided to go hear the Methodist preacher George Whitefield
-- in order to avoid seeming weak in front of his friends, he suggested that they go with him and heckle Whitefield and the crowd that came to see him
-- Whitefield preached on the text: "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Matthew 3:7) -- Robert left in dread, under a deep sense of sin that lasted for three years -- finally, at the age of twenty, he made peace with God and immediately set out to become a Methodist preacher himself -- two years later, in 1757, he wrote a hymn which expressed his joy in his new faith -- a hymn that we all know and have all sung, "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing"
-- but Robert's story doesn't end there -- not long after this hymn was written, Robert left the Methodist Church -- he left his ministry -- he left his faith -- and he wandered again along the roads and byways of his youth -- traveling again along the path of iniquity
-- one day he was traveling by stagecoach and there was a woman sitting there across from him reading a book of hymns -- she ran across a hymn that she thought was wonderful and started to hum it quietly to herself -- finally, one verse just caught her attention, and she asked Robert what he thought of it
-- "prone to wander, Lord, I feel it -- prone to leave the God I love -- here's my heart, O take and seal it -- seal it for thy courts above"
-- Bursting into tears, Robert said, "Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then."
-- this morning, as we continue preparing our hearts and our spirits during this Season of Lent to celebrate Christ by remembering and reflecting on what He did for us, I am going to preach on one of the most controversial topics in our churches today -- namely, once you are saved, are you always saved or can you fall from grace?
-- there's not a lot of differences between us and the Baptists or between us and a lot of the other denominations in our areas -- but this is a key difference -- this is one of the defining differences that separates our denomination from all the others
-- the Baptists say "once saved, always saved" -- but in our church, we disagree -- we say that it is possible for a person to fall from grace -- not necessarily to "lose" your salvation -- but to choose to walk away from the faith
-- so, who is right? -- who is wrong? -- and does it matter? -- the answers to those questions are of extreme importance, especially in our day and age, a time when we just don't see a lot of difference between Christians and the rest of the world
-- so, let's look together at the Scriptures and let's see what we can find there that might help us answer these questions
II. Scripture -- "Not I?"
-- in this passage that we opened with, we read Mark's account of the Last Supper -- as we read, Jesus and His disciples were getting ready to celebrate the Passover meal -- and since they were just visitors to Jerusalem, His disciples didn't know where they would be holding the meal
-- so Jesus told them to go into the city and they would find a man carrying jars of water -- they were to follow him home and say to the owner of the house, `The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there."
-- so the disciples went on their way and found everything just as Jesus said -- they got the upper room in that house ready and now the 13 of them were relaxing around the table, sharing together the Passover Seder -- the traditional Jewish meal held each Passover
-- but rather than being a time of joyous celebration, you get the sense that there was a pall over that evening -- a foreshadowing of the events to come -- look back if you would at verse 18
18. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me--one who is eating with me."
19. They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, "Surely not I?"
20. "It is one of the Twelve," he replied, "one who dips bread into the bowl with me.
21. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
-- now, we all know the end of the story -- we all know that it was Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus into the hands of the high priest for 30 pieces of silver -- but that's not what I want you to see in this passage
-- when Jesus tells them in verse 18 that one of them will betray Him, look at their response -- verse 19
19. They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, "Surely not I?"
-- "surely not I?" -- every single one of the disciples asked Jesus that question -- because every single one of them knew the truth that each of us knows in our heart -- the same truth that Robert Robinson knew in his heart when he penned those words, "prone to wander, Lord, I feel it -- prone to leave the God I love"
-- regardless of your relationship with Christ -- regardless of your position in the church -- regardless of whether you are a pastor or Sunday School teacher or worship leader or lay leader -- regardless of whether you are a Methodist or a Baptist or an Episcopalian -- we are all just one step away from being Judas -- just one step away from betraying our God -- from denying Him and turning away from the faith -- just one step away from falling from grace
-- there's a term that we use in the church to describe people who have fallen away from their relationship with Christ -- we call it "back sliding"-- we're all aware of it and we all know people who are in this state -- people who once were very close to the Lord and walked with Him in a close relationship, but who have now wandered away from the church and from the Lord and from their responsibilities in some way
-- now, that's not to say that all of these people have fallen from grace -- that they have "lost" their salvation -- as I understand this concept from Scripture, the fall from grace is not the result of a single step, but a progression of steps down a steep slope
-- all of us sin -- there's not a person in this room who didn't sin this week -- perhaps even this day -- and every time that you sin, you put a wall of separation between you and God -- but we have the promise of Christ and the promise of 1 John 1:9 that says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness"
-- so the normal progression of a Christian's life is for us to wander -- to give in to our flesh and to the worldly temptations -- and to disobey God and sin against Him -- but when we do so, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin -- we feel the guilt of our sin -- we feel the estrangement -- the separation -- from God -- and we realize we have walked away from Him -- and so we turn back -- we confess our sin and ask God to forgive us -- and He receives us home again with joy -- much like the story of the Prodigal Son
-- the Prodigal Son went off and squandered all that his father had given him -- he sinned against his father and against heaven -- he wandered far off indeed -- but when he turned around and asked for forgiveness, he found his father waiting there with open arms, running to meet him
-- this is the normal pattern of the Christian life -- we are like toddlers following our mother in a store -- we wander off one step -- and then two -- but then we get scared and come running back to her for safety and protection
-- people like this are not really backsliders, but just normal Christians who have sinned and who are seeking to restore their relationship with Christ
-- a back slider, on the other hand -- a person who is in danger of falling from grace -- is a person who takes not one step or two or three -- but has taken many steps away from God -- they begin to neglect their relationship with Him -- they quit coming to church -- they quit seeking God's voice and His presence in the Bible and through prayer -- they quit fellowshipping with other Christians -- and they allow habitual sin to creep into their life
-- finally, they reach the point where they have chosen to walk so far away that they decide it's just not worth the trouble to try to come back -- they haven't really "lost" their salvation so much as they didn't do what was necessary to maintain their relationship with Christ -- and now they just don't have the desire to continue -- and so they choose to walk away
-- men like Judas -- men like Hymaneus and Philetus -- who Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:17-18 had "wandered away from the truth" -- and men like Demas -- who Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:10 had deserted him because he loved the world more
-- let me give you an illustration -- one time when I was a kid, we went to the water park in Douglas -- I forget the name of it -- I think it was Crystal River or something like that -- and I remember that they had this big water slide -- and we were all excited to ride it
-- you had to climb up this ladder to get to the top -- and then you'd slide all the way down -- but you always had the opportunity to get back on ladder and climb back up to the top again
-- now, after a little while, I began to get tired -- you know that walk back to the ladder was long -- and the ladder itself was high -- and it was hard to climb -- and you had to stand on the ladder until you made it to the top -- and it got to be too difficult to do it
-- so I quit riding the water slide -- I thought to myself, "You know, maybe I'll come back and ride it again before it's time to leave" -- but time went on and every time I looked at it, I thought about that long walk and climbing back up the ladder, and I just didn't feel like doing it -- the slide was always there, beckoning -- waiting -- for me to come back -- but before I knew it, it was too late -- it was time to go home
-- that is the difference between a Christian and a back slider -- the Christian climbs back up to the top -- but the back slider -- the person who is in danger of falling from grace -- decides its just not worth the trouble to go back up to the top again
-- how true are those words that Robert Robinson penned? -- we all know that we are prone to wander -- prone to leave God -- it is a danger that we all face -- the disciples knew it, and we can see that plainly in this passage
-- these are men who knew God -- who knew Jesus -- who had eaten with Him -- slept with Him -- who spent their days walking and talking with Him -- who sat at His feet as He taught -- who watched Him heal and do miraculous signs and wonders -- and yet, when the statement was made, "One of you will betray me," every single one of them wondered, "Is it me?" -- they knew they were all capable of making wrong choices -- of wandering away -- of choosing to leave and to betray the God they loved
-- throughout the Bible we see passage after passage -- verse after verse -- that warns us of this propensity and that warns us to stay close to Jesus to prevent us from back sliding
-- Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 4:1 that "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons."
-- for that reason, Jesus told His disciples, "Remain in my love" in John 15:9 and Paul counseled Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:14 to "continue in what you have learned learned and have become convinced of" -- to not leave it and follow the path of others who had turned away
-- so, in this Season of Lent, as we reflect on our sinful natures and on who we are and who we were before we came to Christ -- knowing that we are prone to wander -- knowing that we are prone to leave -- what do we do about it?
-- in Leviticus 24, God gives instructions to Moses about the golden lampstand that was located in the Holy Place -- and God tells Moses that the Israelites are to make sure that there is always oil for the lamp, so that it might be kept burning - and in Lev 24:4, God says, "The lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD must be tended continually."
-- that is the position that we take in our understanding of salvation -- while we understand that salvation is a free gift from God -- that we are saved through faith by grace alone -- and not of works -- we do recognize that maintaining our relationship with God requires continual tending -- it requires continual work -- we have to keep oil in our lights
-- if you would, turn over to Matthew 25 and we'll finish up there --
1. "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2. Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
3. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.
4. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.
5. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6. "At midnight the cry rang out: `Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
7. "Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.
8. The foolish ones said to the wise, `Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.'
9. "`No,' they replied, `there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'
10. "But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11. "Later the others also came. `Sir! Sir!' they said. `Open the door for us!'
12. "But he replied, `I tell you the truth, I don't know you.'
-- when I talk with my Baptist friends about eternal security and about whether you are "once saved, always saved" or whether you can fall from grace, I usually tell them that it doesn't really matter what you believe, so long as you stay close to Christ
-- if you keep oil in your lamp -- if you tend it continually -- if you continue in what you have been taught and remain in Christ's love -- then you will stay in close fellowship with Him -- you may
take a step or two away, but you'll always come back
-- how do we keep oil in our lamp? -- how can we guard ourselves from wandering away from the truth -- from abandoning the faith? -- by maintaining our relationship with Jesus
-- we do this through the means of grace -- through the normal ways in which God's grace works in our lives to restore us and renew us on a daily and continuing basis
-- typically, this means that we worship God -- both in our individual lives and as part of a church -- it means that we listen for God's voice as we read His word -- it means that we talk with Him through our prayers -- it means that we keep short accounts with Him -- confessing and repenting of our sins on a daily basis -- and it means that we participate in the sacraments and in acts of service in His name
-- these steps -- these means of grace -- while they can't save you, they can keep you close to Christ -- they keep your lamp filled with oil -- and they help you stay close to the cross -- close to the top of the mountain -- close to God
-- as I close now, I want to invite you to respond to God's word as you feel led -- we are all prone to wander -- we are all prone to leave the God we love -- and every day -- in a thousand different ways -- we do just that -- we take a step or two away -- but then we come back
-- I don't know where you are in your relationship with Christ -- I can't know your heart -- only you can -- and you know if you are walking close to Christ or if you have wandered far, far down that slope -- it could be that you have been just going through the motions -- just coming to church and singing the songs and not really feeling it in your heart -- it could be that you have started wandering away from God
-- the good news is that God never moves -- He is always there for you -- and if you just turn around and start home, He will meet you there
-- if this sounds like you, then I want to encourage you to come home today -- to turn back to Him today -- to restore your relationship with Him today -- so that you may know that you are saved -- and so you won't have to respond, "Surely not I?" when Jesus reminds you that someone is going to betray Him
-- Let us pray
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