Good morning, everyone. Our psalm for consideration this morning is Psalm 125, if you would turn there with me. Just five verses. I've titled this study Eternal Security. You've heard that term. What is eternal security? Well, it's belief that once a sinner is truly saved and justified by God's grace, God-given faith in Christ, they cannot lose their salvation.

Now, some hard-shelled Baptist might say, well, that's once saved always. That's exactly what it is. Eternal security.

Men argue this truth for one reason only, Deep down, they really believe that they saved themselves. And it doesn't take long talking to someone to find out that that's what they really believe. I gave my heart to Jesus. I let go, let God have his way in my life. I made Jesus Lord. You've heard all of them.

Now here's the beautiful thing about the truth and people will get upset with you when you say this, but if a man saves himself by something that he himself does, then he can lose his salvation by something that he himself does. And that's why for years and years in Southern Baptist religion, I never had any confidence or assurance because I believed that I saved myself and I believed that I could lose my salvation by something that I did.

But if salvation is entirely the work of God, then the true believer knows that their salvation is secured by Christ's finished work on the cross. So if they can do nothing to save themselves, they know that their salvation, they can do nothing to be lost. And you know the argument there. People always say, well, you're just giving men and women a license to sin. I always get tickled at that because we don't need a license to sin. Kind of like driving without a license. If you're going to drive, you're going to drive. Whether you have a license or not, it's that way with sinning. Men sin without a license.

Our Lord Jesus said, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Eternally secure. They'll never perish. But how many, what about professing believers that backslide? Well, they never were truly one of God's sheep. God doesn't make, Goats, sheep, and then when they sin, turns them back into goats. They're either sheep or they're goats, and time will tell which they are.

Paul said nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, nothing. We can be confident of this very thing, Paul said. God which begun a good work in you will perform it. It's not dependent upon me, it's dependent upon God. He performs it. It's Christ that worketh in you. He said, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. And then he turns right around and says, in the very next breath, it's God that worketh in you. We can't work out what God hadn't worked in. And God will continue to provide and perform this good work. He said, until the day of Jesus Christ, which refers to the time that Christ will return or that final day of judgment.

And this gives the child of God, this gives the true believer such full assurance of the preservation that God provides for us in Christ. And you know, in the acronym TULIP, the P they say stands for the perseverance of the saints, but we only persevere because God preserves us. And to persevere is the persistence in doing something despite its difficulty. And what that word, many take that word to mean that man does something. But the only reason that we persist to persevere is because God won't let us quit. You ever thought about quitting? You haven't quit yet, though, have you? That's God. That's God doing that. That word kept, I love that, kept by the power of God, means to retain possession of. That's what the word preserved means, kept. Retained possession of. It means retained. You know what retained means. That word retained means to continue to have. I love to think about that. God, that's what God does for us in Christ. He preserves, he keeps, he retains possession of us. Of all that he gave to Christ before the world began, he has retained, he's kept, he's preserved.

That's the only confidence that I have that I'll endure to the end is because having loved his own that were in the world, he loved them until what? The end. That's why I'm preserved. That's why I persevere. And this is the confession of every kept child of God. I am and will always be his possession. because of his power. You see, I don't have any. I don't know what makes folks, sinners think that they have any power to save themselves or keep themselves.

Psalm 125, look at verse one. They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abided forever. You see, salvation in short could be described as simply trusting in Christ alone. When it all comes down to it, that's what it is. It's trusting in Christ alone. Just as Mount Zion is immovable, that's what the psalmist is saying here, the believer's position in Christ is too. Who's gonna pluck me from his hand? We're talking about God's hand.

And the good news, the gospel is that salvation and righteousness are not dependent on man's fluctuating efforts or feelings. Feelings come, feelings go, feelings are deceiving, aren't they? I forget who it was. Somebody one time, they said, well, I feel like I'm saved. And they said, well, you gotta be careful about that. It could just be gas. It could just be an upset stomach. Feelings don't have anything to do with it. Our efforts are fluctuating, our feelings are up and down, all over the place.

And no doubt, verse one here points to Christ, who is our unshakable cornerstone. He's a sure foundation. We sing at How Firm a Foundation, Christ the Solid Rock. That's what we sing, that's what we preach. Christ is that chief cornerstone in Zion, it says. elect and precious. He's the elect. We're elected in him. He's precious. We're precious to God because of him.

Am I going to take my filthy works of righteousness before the Lord and say, in this precious, you set me on this precious, my preciousness, don't you know, we don't do that. We better not. We go before God and point to the Lord Jesus and He's the precious one. I'm found in Him. He died for me. I believe in Him. I believe that He put my sin away. I believe that He provided for me the perfect righteousness that I need. He that believeth on Him shall not be confounded. He's the sure foundation, in Him we are anchored and immovable.

Christ is the solid rock upon which our foundation is built. And when the storms of life beat against our house and the winds of trouble blow against our house, it'll stand. Why? One reason only, it's built on rock, not shaking. All other ground shaking sand is just sand, sinking sand is what it's in. but not Christ.

And trusting in the Lord brings competence and assurance, not in ourselves, but in Him. He's God. Trusting, trusting. The call here is to trust in the Lord. Trust is not passive, it's deliberate. It's a turning from self-reliance to God's reliance. And the promise here is unshakable security. Believers are compared to Mount Zion here, immovable, secure, enduring. The security is God's work. It's not ours. The fulfillment is eternal abiding. Those who trust in Christ, this is abide forever. This is our ultimate hope in the Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ in you is what? The hope of glory. And that being the perfection that we'll forever share with him.

Verse two, as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from hence, forth even forever. God surrounds his people in Christ again with unbreakable and eternal, everlasting protection. Now that's security. You know, we put alarm systems in our homes, security systems, we call it. We got security. People live in gate communities, got security guards and all that. Ain't much security in any of that. But here we're talking about eternal security. We are eternally secure because of who it is that surrounds us.

Today it seems that all around us is uncertainty, doesn't it? If you look to the things of this world, that's all you're gonna see. But we walk by faith, not by sight. We don't go by what we see. Our stability is based on Christ's stability. And the psalmist tells us that he surrounds us. You know, when you're surrounded by something, there's no gaps. There's no way of entrance to cause harm. He's surrounded. And who is it that's surrounded? God himself. Lord, help us to believe this. Help us to remember these things in times of trouble. We fear so many things. What an anchor we have. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, Hebrews 6.19.

And just as Jerusalem was physically surrounded by mountains, that was great security to Jerusalem. It was hard for people to get to them, enemies to get to them. It was hard for them to get to them without seeing them. This is an imagery of safety and stability, and so are God's people who are surrounded by the Lord God Almighty. It's who that surrounds us that makes the difference, what makes our security eternal.

Look at verse three, for the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous, lest the righteous put forth their hands unto their iniquity. Now, in another place, the psalmist said, the Lord is on my side. I will not fear what man can do unto me. Why would we fear man when God's on our side? If God be for us, who can be against us? The rod of the wicked shall not come upon God's righteous." So again, we see the beautiful truth here of God's preservation of the righteous.

Now this lot, that's talking about an inheritance. When the 12 tribes of Israel got into the land of promise, Joshua would distributed Land to each tribe. You remember that in our study of Joshua. It was their inheritance. It's what God had promised them. That's why it was called the land of promise. And this lot, this inheritance allowed to the righteous symbolizes the portion of all good things that God's given his people. And this verse assures that the dominion of the wicked will not permanently oppress the righteous. It's temporary. You may be oppressed for a while, but God is not gonna allow it to last. God preserves his own in the midst of a fallen world. No eternal harm will come to God's people.

Are we gonna, We're going to get our feelings hurt. We're going to be mistreated at times, but no eternal harm will come. Whatever happens in this life that afflicts us, God turns right around and causes it to be good for us. The wicked will not have the final word. Their temporary victories of evil don't define eternity. The righteous, those made so by God, they're gonna preserve, be preserved. Every believer can be confident Christ bore our sins. He faced the wrath of God in our place. That being the wrath we deserve, that wrath is rightfully ours. He rose from death and the grave victorious. He's our preservation.

And believe me when I say that life is gonna challenge you. Those of you my age and older know that so. You look back on it and you go, man, oh man. Glad I'm through all that. This world's gonna try to tempt you Try you, but when you trust in Christ, you've got an unshakable foundation. Unshakable. God's faithfulness will not fail you.

And please hear me on this. The last part of verse four there says, lest the righteous put forth their hands into iniquity. Now that word lest, or unless, I guess you could say, it's a warning and a precaution. The psalmist warns us so that it does not happen. The scriptures are full of warning. Last Sunday, I preached a message that was very difficult for me to preach, talking about sheep and goats and wheat and tares. That's not a pleasant message to think about the fact that I may not be one of his sheep. But it's also, that same message also gives me confidence that I am.

And it's a warning from God to Work out, so to speak, our own salvation with fear and trembling. That doesn't mean we work to be saved. That means that we strive, that we continue on, that we set our face like a flint to do the things that God tells us in his word. We're working out what God's worked in, as I commented a minute ago. We can't work out what he hasn't worked in. So this is a warning, lest the righteous, those made righteous, and those who are God-fearing and obedient and devoted, put forth their hands into iniquity.

Listen, God's protective power is gonna intervene. He's not gonna let his true sheep fall. the good shepherd will leave the 99 in the wilderness. And that just simply means a safe place where sheep graze. That's not saying that, you know, he forgets all about the 99 and leaves them, you know, in danger to predators. No. It's talking about how much he loves that one strange sheep that he would leave 99. He leaves them in safety. Listen, our shepherd can protect those no matter where he is. But he leaves the 99 to go get that one strange sheep, prone to wonder we are. Prone to leave the God that we love. But he ain't gonna let it happen. God's protective power will intervene.

The security of God's sheep is such that the righteous are guarded from slipping into sin. Isn't that something? Again, this is a statement of God's preserving hand. God keeps his people. And listen, here's the thing. He's able and he's willing. He wants to. But sometimes God says, OK, have it your way. His spirit shall not always strive with man.

Now look at verse four. This is amazing. Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good. Now who's that talking about? There's none that do good, no, not one. O Lord, unto those that be good, do good, and to them that are upright in their hearts. Who's that talking about? All our hearts are deceitful, desperately wicked. How are those who can do no good going to deal with this verse? Especially when Scripture declares that there's none that doeth good, no, not one. I think about that rich young ruler coming to Christ and he said, good master, what good thing must I do to inherit eternal life? In other words, what good thing can I do to reach your level of goodness? I'm pretty good. I've done all these things from my birth. You know, I've kept the commandments. I've done this, I've done that. What good work can I do that I might be accepted by my own righteousness? And the Lord said, there's only one who's good. He said, why do you call me good?

Now, I got to thinking about this. You know, I never really had thought about why he asked that question. He was the perfect God man. He said, why you call me good? The Lord here wasn't denying his goodness or his divinity. He was making a deliberate point to that young man who was consumed with being good and doing something himself to inherit eternal life.

And the point he was making was true goodness belongs to God alone. And by questioning this moral man who called him good, Christ redirected his attention on God, to God, as the only source of all goodness. This was essentially a challenge. What the Lord asking me here is, do you know who you're talking to? I am God. I am good. And to be as good as God, you've got to trust in me. You can't do anything.

This man assumed good was a casual compliment. And we do it all the time. I bet I said it two or three times, just say, yeah, no, he's a good man. Well, there is none good. You know, it's just a, it's not, But the goodness we're talking about here is not a human attribute. It's a divine one. And here the Lord subtly points to his own identity. If he was truly good and he was, it was because he was God. And this is a test of this man's understanding. This was a gentle claim of Christ's own divinity. He asked this question to get this man to think. We talked about that a few weeks ago. A lot of times, when answering a question, we ask a question. And we do that to cause that person to think about what they just asked. He asked this question to get this man to think about what he was, to think about who Christ was. Why callst thou me good? Only God's good. If I'm good, then I must be God.

But sadly, this man went away sad. Why? He wanted to do something good to be saved, and Christ gave him something to do that he couldn't do. He said, okay, you've done this, you've done that. Let me tell you something you haven't done. You're rich, go sell all you have, give it to the poor, and come follow me. And he went away sad. Well, I can't do that.

The Lord meets us where we're at. Who are these good men then, these good women spoken of in verse four? You know, those who are in Christ. The only good in me is Him. They're a new creation. They have a new nature. Listen, they have a holy nature. A nature that does not commit sin. Now explain that, I can't explain that. But that's what God says, so I believe it. And isn't that a good thing, a nature, a holy nature? You cannot see it, not in God's eyes.

The psalmist says, do good, O Lord, unto those that be good. That describes every true believer. God's out to do you good. We know that all things work together for good, To them that love God, not everybody, only those that love God.

John 316 John 316 had a acquaintance of mine. Tell me just yesterday that he heard from somebody and they said you're a nice guy, but you need John 316. And I thought, no, you need more than John 316. You need the one who's. talking in John 3, 16, and she said, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that the whole world might be saved through him, no, but whosoever believeth in him. That's what this is all about. It's talking about believers. All things work together for good of them that love God, them who are thee called. Who are those that are called according to his purpose? Those who believe in Christ, those who trust in Him. It all comes back to that. Everything the Lord does for His people, those who are in Christ, is for their good. It may not always seem like it.

And the psalmist goes on to say, to them that are upright in their hearts. We're upright only in the new hearts that God gives us. This is talking about that clean heart that David prayed for. You remember that? Created me a clean heart, oh Lord. When David made that request, you know what he was really saying? My heart's filthy. I need a new heart. I need a clean heart. Mine is wretched, deceitful, desperately wicked.

A new heart is one that looks to Christ only. And it's a perfect heart in Christ. And these are the ones who the psalmist describes as good. You believe I'm good? I am in Christ. God's given us such bright hearts. That's why we as believers persevere. Not because we're good, but because He's good. God has given us a new heart to do so.

The heart that God has given us in Christ is not going to depart from him. It's going to continue to look to him day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. And here some of us sit and stand, still believing, still trusting, still walking, still following. We don't take any credit for it or any glory for it. It's the Lord that did it for us.

The believer has been made to know that Jesus Christ is the way. Look at verse five. As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, The Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity, but peace shall be upon Israel. Those who turn aside unto crooked ways have never been given these upright hearts. They turn into their own crooked ways. You see, the believer has been made to know that Christ is the way. Every other way is a crooked way. He's the way to the Father. That's what he said. I am the way, truth, and the light. He's the only way. He said no man cometh to the Father but by me. That means he's the only way. All other ways to God are crooked. And listen, there's a lot of folks on the broad way. That way that leads to destruction. Only few find that straight and narrow way. And did you see what is said there in verse five? It says, the Lord shall lead them forth. It turned me to one place. I believe you can let go of Psalm. Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter two. I'll close with this. I begin to close with it. 2 Thessalonians chapter two. Second Thessalonians, chapter two, verse one. Paul writing says in verse one, now we beseech you brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus and by our gathering together unto him that you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us as the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first

Now there are going to be many, listen, there are going to be many that go after their crooked ways. In the last part of verse three says, and that man of sin will be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes God and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Now, for all my life, I've been told about the Antichrist, you know, the one coming, and even if it was possible, he would deceive the elect of God. And you know what? I still don't, I'm still not totally clear on it, but I think that, you know, one of the apostles said, there are many Antichrists. I believe the Antichrist is us, in our natural state. This is describing us. We oppose God and exalt ourself above all that is called God. We sit in the temple of God showing ourselves that we're God. We think we're our own God.

And then he said in verse five, remember ye not that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now you know that what withholdeth And now you know what withhold it. that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed from whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved." They didn't believe.

And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie. that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Who's gonna perish? Those right there. Those who don't believe. Those who got pleasure in unrighteousness. And the Lord simply leads those who perish as an act of justice. He just lets, them have what they deserve. And that's what mercy and grace is, God not letting us have what we deserve. But God's not unrighteous in just letting men have what they deserve.

All the Lord has to do with us, with anyone for that matter, is simply leave us alone and let us go our own crooked way. If he would draw his hand from you for one second, that's exactly what you would do. And for men and women to say, not me. On the day they crucified the Lord, I would have been shouting and saying, don't do it. You can't do this. No, I know you wouldn't. No, you'd have been right there following your own crooked way. And that's why we pray, not my will be done, but thy, not my way, but thine be done.

Verse 13, but we're bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit. And what belief of the truth. If you're here this morning and you believe the truth, it's God's fault, if I can say it that way. If you go to hell, it's your fault. But if God saves you, it's His doing. Where unto, verse 14, He called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the reason believers believe God. He chose you. in the beginning. He's gonna argue with that.

Again, verse five, as for such as turn aside unto their own crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity. And look at the last word, but peace shall be upon Israel. Who's Israel? God's people, God's church, God's bride. Let me say it one more time. For the Lord to let the wicked stray after their own crooked ways, all He's got to do is just leave them alone, let them go. in that direction. James wrote, let no man say when he's tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempted he any man, but every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it's finished, bringeth forth death. It's your fault. It's your fault. If you go to hell, it's your fault.

And who is it that puts this peace on Israel? The Lord. The Lord does it. What is our peace? Well, no, who is our peace? For he, Christ, is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall partitioned between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself a twain one new man, so making peace.

and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. Salvation to the Lord. God gets all the glory. Our peace comes from the Prince of Peace. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have peace because God justified us. It's 100% His doing, 100% His work. We stand before God as one who's never sinned. Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. And the Lord is satisfied with all that are in Christ. Is that your hope this morning?

Colossians 1.20, let me read it to you and I'll finish. Christ having made peace through the blood of His cross by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies. That's talking about you, that's talking about me. In your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled.

Read the scriptures and slow down and read these things. Yet now have he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy, unblameable, unreprovable in his sight. Do you know who's holy and unblameable and unreprovable? Those he's made perfect. Peace is upon Israel.