and we can come and worship You
and we lift up these prayer requests to You and pray that You would
minister to each person mentioned. And as the list goes out on Monday,
that we would remember through the week to pray for one another
and pray for those who are on the email list. And also, Lord,
have us remember too to pray for one another for unspoken
prayers, prayers that aren't mentioned, and trials and struggles
that each one go through. May we lift each other up and
pray for each other. We pray You be glorified though
today in the singing and in the preaching and in everything we
do. Our conversation may be glorifying
to You and honoring to You. We love You and we give You all
the glory. In Jesus' name, Amen. Today will be the last in the
study of the doctrines of grace. We'll conclude our study on the
doctrines of grace today. It's been a joy to go through
this. And what I want to do is, I want to go through some foundational
things of the faith too, great precious truths of the faith.
So that will be our next studies too, is going through what is
justification? What is redemption? We're going
to go through some of these precious truths that are foundational
to what we believe. And dig into them more than what
we would just in mentioning them or looking at a certain verse.
I'd like us to really just dig into what that is all about.
But this week we'll conclude our study on the doctrines of
grace. And as I said before, there's much more to what we
believe than just five points. So if someone asks you that,
you know, do you believe the five points? Yeah, I believe the five
points, but there's a whole lot more than just five points of
what I believe. And the church body and our constitution,
we believe in these five precious truths. And these doctrines,
they're not manufactured in our minds. like religion does. Religion manufactures doctrines
and manufactures supposed truths in their minds, and then says,
well, this is the truth, and they rip out a scripture in context. No, what we believe is based
upon what the scripture says, in the scriptures alone. If it
can't be proved in the scripture, don't believe it. Just cast it
aside. because this is our final authority.
Now, these five points that we believe as a church is total
depravity, also known as total inability, or original sin. When
Adam fell, we all fell with him. Unconditional election, which
means that God's election was based upon absolutely nothing
in us. It was all His good pleasure and His will. Limited atonement
or particular atonement. Christ died for His people on
Calvary's cross. Irresistible grace. which means
that God will save and draw His people to Him, and we cannot
resist it. We cannot resist it. And today we're going to look
at perseverance of the saints, the pea in the tulip. And this
will conclude our study on the doctrines of grace. So we've
seen in our studies already that when Adam fell, we fell. And
that man is utterly unable to save himself. We have no ability,
no ability to save ourselves. That's why we need a savior.
We need Christ. We must be saved by him and him
alone. And thanks be to God that in
eternity he chose a people based upon nothing in them. Based upon
nothing that we would do and nothing in us. Because all we
are is sin. All we do is sin. Everything
we do is tainted by sin. But praise be to God that he
chose a people. He chose them. He chose them
and he gave them to Christ. Fallen rebels is what we are. But he chose a people, he chose
God Almighty, chose to save a people in Christ in eternity. I don't
think, sometimes I think about that and I just, it just, it's
mind blowing to be honest with you. It really is, but he did
this. And for those elect sinners that
God chose and gave to Christ, Christ paid the price that God
demanded. And He really did. He did not
die for everyone. He died on the cross for His
people. He shall save His people from
their sins. And beloved, He did it. He did
it. And then for those Each of those
elect, each of those that were given to Christ by God the Father,
the Holy Spirit draws them, draws them with an irresistible grace.
And then today, as I said, we're going to look at perseverance
of the saints, which means that those the Father gave to Christ,
those the Father chose in eternity in Christ, those for whom Christ
died for on the cross, those who are irresistibly drawn to
God by the Holy Spirit, God will not lose one of them. Not one
of them. He will not lose those He has
chosen in eternity. He will not lose those whom Christ
has redeemed or purchased on Calvary Street. And this is God we're speaking
of. Now, if it was based upon us, right, we'd lose it all the
time, wouldn't we? We wouldn't even be able to keep it. I wouldn't. But it's not based upon me. It's
not based upon my doing. It's based upon God and His decree. What God has promised, He will
accomplish. He will accomplish. He does not
lose one of those He called with His irresistible grace. He will
not lose one of those he's regenerated. He will not lose one of them
who are born again. God will not lose one of his
people who are in Christ. And think of this, Christ is
God in the flesh. God will not lose his people.
They are kept by his power. He preserves every one of his
sheep, and he brings them safely home to glory. to glory. And it's amazing. It's amazing
the hatred that religionists have with these precious doctrines. They oppose them. Why? Why do they oppose them? Because
it destroys their doing. It destroys their works. It hits them right in the pride.
Think of that. There's nothing left for man
to do. It's all a work of God. It's all a work of God. They
denounce what we believe also. They also denounce what we believe
without really knowing what we believe. Always qualify a person. If they come to talk to you about
election or irresistible grace or any of these, and I've ran
into this many times talking with people. Always qualify.
What do you mean by election? You're going to find out it ain't
what we believe. that they think we believe. It's
not. And then we can, if the Lord
opens the door, we're able to say, well, this is what I believe,
based upon what the scripture says. And as an old preacher said,
Calvinism is simply a nickname for biblical Christianity. Turn
with me, if you would, to Colossians chapter 1. Now, our final authority
is the scripture. And put your finger in 1 Peter
also, chapter 1. So Colossians chapter 1 and 1
Peter chapter 1. Always ask for chapter and verse.
Always ask for chapter. If someone comes to you and they
say, well, this is in the Scripture, say, well, where's that? I had
someone recently pull something out, and I said, where's that
in Scripture? And they tried to show me, and
I said, that's not what that says. That's not at all what it says.
And he had agreed. Scripture either tells us plainly
these precious truths, or they're someone's opinion. And a lot
of times, people, and I know I did this myself in religion,
like I always say, don't think I'm always putting people down
in religion, because I came out of that. I was there. And it's
funny, I was talking to Brother Donny Bell about this just a
couple weeks ago. I said, you know, Brother, it
seems like these doctrines that we used to believe, We were taught
a man. He goes, exactly. We believe
them because the pastor said them, not because of what Scripture
said. And you'll find that's what a
lot of folks do. They parrot with the preacher. I don't want you to parrot necessarily
what I preach unless it comes from here. And don't parrot it
because I said it. Say, thus saith the Lord. The
Scriptures say this. This is my rest. Do you remember
the Bereans? They searched the Scripture to
see if what the preacher was saying was true. I want you to
do that. Search the Scriptures. Search
them. This is where we find eternal
life. This is where we find the truth is in the Scriptures. And
you know, every blood-bought saint will preserve until the
end. They will continue in the faith. How do you know? How do
you know if you're saved and if you continue in the faith?
And how do you continue? God will preserve you in the
faith. He does. He keeps you. Those God saves,
He keeps. And one day there'll be in heaven
with them. Look at Colossians 1, verses 21-23. And you that
were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,
there's our state naturally, beloved. We were enemies with
God in our minds. I was. to my shame, I love my
king now, praise God, but there was a time when I didn't. By
wicked works, yet now hath he, look at this beautiful word,
reconciled. The believers reconciled with
God through Christ Jesus our Lord. In the body of his flesh
through death to present you holy, we could just park here,
right here, but this is not what we're, We're going to look at
the next verse, but look at this. To present you holy and unblameable
and unapprovable in his sight. For if ye continue in the faith,
grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope
of the Gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached
to every creature which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made
a minister." So from this verse we can perceive just from what
Scripture says that if someone makes a profession and then years
down the road no longer want to have anything to do with Christ
or anything at all, they were never really saved. It was just
a profession. because those who God saves will continue in the
faith. He will keep them. He will keep
us in the faith. He will keep us looking to Christ.
If ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be
not moved away from the hope of the gospel. And I'm not saying
folks can leave for a while and then come back. I'm talking about
someone who just is denouncing the gospel. denouncing Christ
after they made a so-called profession. That's the case. Because there
are many times people leave and then they may come back down
the road. If God draws them back, that's His doing. But this is
specifically talking about someone who professes and then just denounces
everything. You know, A.W. Pink said there's
two kinds of Christians. There's possessors and professors.
Possessors and professors. Only God knows who they are.
And then look in 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 1. And no elect sinner who's been
purchased, no elect purchased sinner has ever fear being lost
because they are kept by the power of God. You remember we
saw if you continue in the faith, right? Now look at this in 1
Peter 1, starting in verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy,
oh, His mercy is abundant, beloved, it's indescribable, towards us,
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, you can't mess
it up, You can't mess it up. It's incorruptible. Can't be
messed up by us. Undefiled. That fadeth not away. Why doesn't it fade away? Because
God's keeping it. It's His. Reserved for you, reserved
in heaven for you. We looked at that before. When
you reserve a table, your name's there, and that table's yours.
But for a believer, they have a spot reserved in heaven for
you. Look at this verse right here,
who are kept by the power of God. So if we continue in the
faith, we are kept by the power of God through faith, see, believing
on Christ, continue to believe on Christ, unto salvation, ready
to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though
now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through
manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much
more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried
with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at
the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom, having not seen, ye love. Whom, having not seen, ye love. Oh, in whom through now ye see
him not, yet believe, and ye rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith unto the
salvation of your souls. But look at verse 5. Who are
kept by the power of God. The same word used in Romans
116, the power of God unto salvation. The same Greek word. The dynamite
of God. If we're kept, we're kept by
the power of God, beloved. And we go through trials and
temptations, don't we? And we go through storms in this
life. And there's some things that this, you wonder, you feel
like you're being crushed. But you're kept. You're kept
by the power of God. Kept by the power of God, beloved. And those He saves, He is able
to keep. God has purposed to save a people
in Christ, and Christ died for those people, and the Holy Spirit
calls those people. Think on this. If one of them
failed to arrive in heaven, then is not God's will defeated? Do you see the corner that people
paint themselves into, who believe you can be saved and then lost,
and then be saved and then lost? Do you see the corner that they
painted themselves into? They're basically saying then
that God's will can be defeated. Well, then He would no longer
be God. But no, our God, declaring the
end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that
are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I'll
do all my pleasure. Isaiah 46, 10, and in Ephesians
1, 11, it says, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. Does that sound
like a God who can be defeated? Absolutely not. That's the God
who keeps us. That's the God who keeps His
people. So we say away with that foolishness.
I don't even want to hear it. Because that's not my God. The God of the Bible saves His
people and He keeps His people. And He presents them unblameable
and unreprovable in His sight. And it's only through Christ.
It's only through Christ. God's will will be done. And
no man can thwart it. No matter what man says, no matter
what man thinks, God's will will never be thwarted. Never. Never. And remember this, too,
as we go through things, because we do. We do. We have times of doubt. We have
times of anxiety. We have times of trouble. We
do. We're human. But remember this,
the Lord Jesus Christ will never, ever, ever forsake His people. Never. I'll never leave you,
nor forsake you. Never, He says to His people
in Hebrews. Never. Oh, God does not change. Right? He's unchanging, isn't
He? He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. If God doesn't
change, then His decree never changes. Then His promises never change. What He says, He will do. Turn, if you would, to Micah,
and also 2 Timothy 2. Micah 4. Micah 4 and 2 Timothy 2. Micah 4. God does not change. He cannot deny Himself. And He
does not do something that doesn't stand forever. Look at Micah 4, verse 4 to 7. But they shall sit every man
under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make
them afraid. For the mouth of the Lord of
hosts has spoken it. For all people will walk, every one in
the name of his God, and we will walk in the name of our God forever
and ever. In that day, saith the Lord,
I will assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is
driven out, and her that I have afflicted. And I will make her
that halteth a remnant. Notice who's doing it all. I
will. I will, God says. It's not a
maybe. It's definitive. I will. And
I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted,
And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast
far off a strong nation. And the Lord shall reign over
them in Mount Zion from henceforth even forever." He shall reign
over them forever. Beloved, he'll reign over his
people forever. Forever. And what he says shall
come to pass. There's no doubt. When the Lord saves a sinner, and we'll look at that in this
morning's message, when the Lord saves a sinner, it was that sinner's
appointed time to hear the gospel. The preacher's just an instrument. Think of a surgeon, he has instruments,
doesn't he? The preacher's just an instrument,
that's all. It's not him doing it, it's God.
He does it all. When it's His appointed time
to save a sinner, He's going to save them. Now, that doesn't mean a sinner
should sit and say, well, when it's God's time, He's going to
save me. No, because when God makes you willing, you're going
to run. And now is the accepted day. Now is the day of salvation.
We are to flee to Christ now, not wait. We are to flee to Him. Oh, may God make you willing.
May God make you willing to flee to Him. But God is sovereign. In our
sovereign God, His will will be accomplished. What He has
purposed and planned. And therefore, His elect are
secure in Him. Secure in Him. Look at 2 Timothy
2.13. If we believe not, have you ever
doubted? Let's be honest. We all have,
right? We all go through times like
that. Lord, I don't understand what's going on. If we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful. Look at this. He cannot deny
himself. God has given a people to Christ.
He can't deny himself, beloved. He cannot deny Himself. Ecclesiastes
says this, 3.14, I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall
be forever. What God does is forever. What we do is temporal, right?
What we accomplish on this earth is temporal. What we gather on
this earth is temporal. Someone else, it's going to eventually
go to someone else. But what God does, beloved, is
forever. It's forever. So when He saves a sinner, He's
going to keep a sinner. Are you going to keep them? God is sovereign and His will
will be accomplished. Turn, if you would, to John 5. How are we eternally secure in
Christ? Well, we're eternally secure
in Christ because He is God. And He has saved us and therefore
we're secure in Him. If Christ wasn't God, we wouldn't
be secure in Him. But He is God. And He was God. Look at John 5, verse 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but
is passed from death into life. If you pass from condemnation,
you can't be lost. You can't be bought before the
judgment seat. You're unblameable, like Scripture
said. On the back of our bulletin is
a wonderful article about the righteousness of Christ. Righteousness
which Jehovah cannot find a flaw in. And it's in Christ. It's the righteousness of Christ. Ephesians 1 says this, verses
13-14, In whom also ye trusted, after that ye heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation, we trusted in Christ.
In whom also after ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. Sealed by the Holy Spirit of
God. which is the earnest of our inheritance.
Remember, we have an inheritance that's incorruptible. This is
the earnest. The earnest of our inheritance until the redemption
of the purchased possession and to the praise of His glory. And
we know that in Romans it says that the gifts and calling of
God are without repentance. Romans 11.29. So God will not save a man and
then heaven be lost. No. No, that's not our God. That may be a God of someone's
imagination, but that's not the God of the Bible. That's not
the God of this precious Word. And now it's important for us
to stress, too, that Calvinism is not man-made. in the sense
of these precious truths that we've looked at. All Calvin did
was take precious truths from the Scripture and put them into
a systematic theology. That's what the tool is. And
then we're given an acronym to be able to easily understand
those precious truths broken down for us, and then we search
the Scriptures based upon what those things say. And it's the
truth of the Scripture. And then his students, in refuting
Arminianism, simply took these precious truths, which are scriptural,
and refuted Arminianism. They're just truths from the
Bible. And so that's why preachers say
that Calvinism is just a nickname for biblical... We don't follow
Calvin. But the truths that he bought
out, Our precious truths. Our precious
truths. So the Scriptures we've looked
at show that this salvation and these precious truths are not
man-made. But they come from Scripture.
They come from God, who is the author of this precious book. And the scriptures have shown us
that salvation is not a man, but that it comes from God. Salvation is called eternal life,
and it's different from life which we live here, because this
life is temporal. But eternal life is for eternity.
Turn, if you would, to John chapter 3. And then put your finger in John
chapter 17. John chapter 3, verse 15. That whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Now,
the world there, we know from studying, is the known world,
and we know also that God only saves His people. And this is
speaking of His people. Not the whole world in general,
but His people. So if this life is eternal, and
it's everlasting, and it comes from God, How can we lose it? If we're kept by that same God,
kept by the power of God we saw, how can we lose it? We can't. It's in Christ. But if you've
made a profession of your own, if God hasn't saved you, but
if it's your own profession, then the Lord needs to flee to
Christ. Because that's a false refuge.
That's a false refuge. But these are written that you
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that
believing, you might have life through His name. See, life only
comes, eternal life only comes through Christ and nowhere else.
Not by works, not by a denomination, but only in Christ and in Him
alone. Look at John 17, and we're finished
with this, verses 2 and 3. We have everlasting and eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And think of this, eternal
life without time limits. Without time limits. In eternity
in Christ. Look at John 17, 2 and 3. As
Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ
has all power, all power, everything is subject to Him. He should
give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. He will
give eternal life to those the Father has given Him. And this
is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. So Jesus Christ saves and
keeps His people. And one day, beloved, one day
we will see Him face to face. May we just rest and repose in
that. And repose just means sitting and resting. May we rest in this
precious truth that those God saves, He is able. He is able. He is able. We're not able. He's
able to keep.