When You Get Off the Trolley in Mid-Trip, It’s Gone

Introduction
`I.    One of my frustrating experiences in Lithuania was late one Friday evening at       
       about 10:15 P.M.  
A. 	I had thought I was at the place where I wanted to get off the trolley to walk   
      to the apartment where I was staying.
       B.  I was wrong, having gotten off about two-thirds of the way to the apartment.
       C.  I had bought several presents for family members while in Vilnius for a 	 	 Bible Study, and I got off without the package.
             1.  My heart sank at first because I was so far from the apartment.
             2.  Second, it sank further when I realized, “Oh, no, I left the gifts on the 	 	      trolley.”
             3.  I tried to hail a Taksi [Taxi], but none came by, so I started walking the
	      trolley route “thinking I’d catch up with it...?”
             4.  This obviously would not work because the trolley was making a speed of 
	      about twenty kilometers an hour, and I was only doing about six.
5. 	I stopped again at the next intersection to hail a Taksi, but none turned 	       the direction toward me, so back to walking again.
6. 	I walked to the intersection where I should have gotten off the bus and 	         then turned, walking about a quarter mile to where the same trolley 	        should pass, hoping against hope that the trolley would come back by, the             package would still be in the seat, I would get on quickly, get the package,        get off the trolley equally quickly and go home feeling better.
7. 	No such “luck,” so after walking and waiting for an hour plus, I headed 	          back to the apartment, saying, “Well, it was not a great loss, and maybe a        call tomorrow will reveal that the package was turned in, and I can pick it up.
C. 	The reason for this rather long, unpleasant story [for me, at least], is to impress us that if we get off the Way to heaven before we get there, just like the getting off the trolley, heaven will be gone.
II.   God requires us to be faithful until death.  Rev. 2:10b.
       A.  The doctrine of the eternal security of the saints or more popularly, “Once 	  	 saved:  always saved” is not Bible doctrine.  
       B.  God requires us to endure.
1. 	A preacher in Woodbury who did not like my teaching this truth on 	        the radio would say, “You don’t have to hold out, hold on, hold up  or hold anything” in order to be saved.	
 	 2.  He drew very wrong conclusions.
III. Let us learn beyond a doubt that God requires us to “be faithful unto death.”  
      Rev. 2:10b.

Body

I.   The Scriptures teach the possibility of apostasy.
     	A.  Paul illustrated the possibility of falling away in I Cor. 10:1-12.  
           1.  The Hebrews were God’s children.
2. 	They were blessed in their deliverance and were “baptized unto Moses,” yet they were later lost because of their sins.
3. 	This serves to warn us that we could also fall.  Vs. 12.

When You Get Off the Trolley in Mid-Trip, It’s Gone, page 2.
        
B. 	Some fell from grace.  
1. 	The Galatians who sought justification through keeping the law of Moses, cut themselves off from Christ.  Gal. 5:1-7.
2. 	Hymenaeus, Philetus and Alexander erred from the truth.  I Tim. 1:18-20; II Tim. 2:14-19.
a.  Those who err from the truth need to be converted.  Jas. 5:19-20; 
     Gal. 6:1-2.
b. 	Those going back into sin are in a worse condition than they were in prior to conversion.  II Pet. 2:17-22.
C. 	We are grafted in as branches in the tree, and we could be cut off just as were the Hebrews.  Rom. 11:7-24.
 
II. 	The Scriptures teach us how to walk so as to be saved.
A. 	We must add the proper characteristics to our faith.  II Pet. 1:5-11.
B. 	We must seek for glory and honor.  Rom. 2:1-11.
C. 	We must be transformed to live a new life.  Rom. 12:1-2.
D. 	We must walk worthily of our calling.  Eph. 4:1-6.
E. 	We must be faithful unto death.  Rev. 2:10b.
 
Conclusion

I. 	Yes, it is possible to be saved from past sins, and still be lost.  Rom. 11:7-24.
II. 	We must so conduct ourselves that we will not go back into sin.  I Cor. 9:23-27.   
III. 	We must live lives which will please God.
IV. 	Don’t become unfaithful in your pursuit of heaven.
A. 	Getting off the trolley in mid-trip causes one to lose his ride.
B. 	Becoming unfaithful during the trip to heaven causes one to lose heaven.
V. 	If you have not obeyed the first principles of the gospel, you are urged to do so today.

Prepared by:
   David Arnold
   October 4, 1998