I was thrilled. And then I went over it again today and I go, oh, man. I hope the Lord will bless it. That's my desire is that God the Spirit would instruct you in the things of Christ. I'm nothing more than a vessel or a mouthpiece and very weak and ineffectual one at that. But my hope is that God would be gracious to us this evening and visit us with this spirit and give me the liberty I need and open your hearts to the word that you need.

I desire to go through this message, but I'll get as far as I can. I think that just, I'm determined to do that. I'm not going to try to, if it goes too long, I'll We'll cut it off. But only five verses. You figure it wouldn't take that long. But there's a lot here. And I do pray God will bless it.

Remember those that are sick, those who are suffering, those who are troubled. Lots of people are often troubled. And difficulties come. sicknesses, afflictions. And so we should pray for one another. You may not know anything, and I don't know. I'm the last to know. Anything happened, usually the pastor is the last to know anyway. But God knows. And so we should ask the Lord constantly and bring one another before the throne of grace and ask mercies upon each other. And God be gracious.

Oh, the fellowship luncheon is going to be moved to when? The 14th, I think, of December. I know that everybody's getting ready for the Thanksgiving and so forth. And it makes it a little more difficult at the end of November to do it. We'll do it in the middle of December, because then you've got Christmas right after that and New Year's. So we'll do that on the 14th, I think. Is that right, the date? OK. It's around the 14th. So we'll just make it the week of the 14th somewhere that Sunday, if it's not on Sunday.

Any other requests need to be mentioned? Anything that I'm missing? Pray for the churches, don't forget them, God's pastors. Let's go to him in prayer.

Most gracious Father in heaven, we bow ourselves again before you. Coming again to the table, desiring to feed upon the word of God. The message is prepared. Our heart's desire is to be fed. But we know without your spirit we cannot enter in to the things that you have for us unless you, by your grace, feed us. I ask you that you would. I pray that you would open my mind and my heart to the things of Christ here, the things you would have your people to know, to receive by faith, that they might be comforted in their times of difficulties and troubles. You said for us to comfort your people. I pray that you would.

Father, I pray this night that you would be gracious to those that are sick, those who suffer in the body, and the flesh, and the mind, and those who suffer in the soul and in the spirit, that you would bring healing and light, that you would deliver out of darkness, that you take those prisoners who are captive by sin and deliver them through the preaching of your gospel and the power of your spirit. Be with those men that preach the gospel wherever they are. Be with the churches, Father, who do not have pastors. Father, please, we beg you to give them pastors after your own heart. That your word may be preached and declared in this generation, Father, and that you might call forth your elect. I do pray that there are many that you would call. and that many would come.

Forgive us our sins. Cleanse us of our unrighteousness. We pray these things in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen.

I take your Bibles and turn back with me to Psalm 125. Psalm 125.

Title of this message, Eternal Security and the Chastisement of God. Two things that I'm going to be dealing with.

I was talking with David Edmondson, I told Terrence, I had a message that, I don't know, for some Lord, obviously, a lot of people looked at it, and I thought, well, maybe it's a title. And David Edmondson said, I think I was going to have all my titles like Demon Possession, because that'll get a lot of people to click on it. Or, who's anti-Christ? You know, that'll get people. I'm not clever with titles, but I usually want to give a title about what I'm preaching, so that's what I'm preaching. The Eternal Security of the Saints and the Use of God's Chastisement. And it's all found in this psalm here, Psalm 125.

Psalm 125. read verse 1 together, it said, A Song of Degrees. Again, these Songs of Degrees are important because these are the songs that the people of Israel sang as they marched toward Zion, which always reminds us, every time we read these Songs of Degrees, that we too are journeying. These songs are meant for us who are journeying to Zion. We are journeying to spiritual Zion. And our journey was ordained of God. Our journey is one prepared for us by our Father. He purposed our salvation before the world was made. He alone purposed the way in which we should be saved, and He purposed when we should be saved. And listen, everything along the way has been purposed of God. Everything.

Consider our walk before we even came to Christ. Isn't that purpose? Didn't He keep us? We didn't deserve to be kept alive, but He kept us. He sustained us. He direct our way, even though we knew Him not. Until we came to the time appointed, and He gave us life and faith. At that moment, by the grace and power of God, someone preached the gospel to us in the spirit of God, Opened our eyes. And then what? We realized, hey, we started a journey. A journey of faith. We abandoned our dreams of self-righteousness. We cling to Christ. And so as we sing these songs of the Greece, these songs are for us. They're for us.

Let us be reminded then that this journey that we're on is not smooth. God never promised a smooth ride, did he? I mean, that's what religion tells you. That's what the natural man believes, is that once a person's saved, everything should be well. There shouldn't be any troubles. But God never promised that. And I know this, I'm still surprised at when it happens. When dark providences come, I'm still surprised. And yet, why? Why are we still surprised?

This way we're on is straight and narrow. The scripture says, Jesus said this, enter ye in the straight gate. Why? Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. Now religion is wide, it's broad. You know, you could have two totally opposing different views and they all think they're all going in the same direction. They are. To hell. But that's alright. It's broad, it's wide, it's smooth. No trouble there. Oh, but straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it. That way is Christ. It's not like we're walking a tightrope. That's why it has nothing to do with that. Jesus said, I am the way. That way is straight. That gate is narrow. There's only one, only one way, and it's Christ. And the way we walk on this journey is by faith, by faith.

And so on the way to Zion, just like the Jews here, they were going to encounter difficulties. And these Psalms are intended to comfort us in the difficulties, in the trouble. And this is a very comforting Psalm. Listen to the first verse here. They that trust the Lord shall be as Mount Zion. Listen, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. Here the Lord is liking those who believe on Jesus Christ to the immutability of Mount Zion. You that believe, you are as Mount Zion. You know, you can still go over there, it's still there. It's still there. It was there long before even the Jews came in. It was there. Why? You're not going to pick up that mountain and move it? It's immutable.

So tonight I want to be talking about, first of all I'm going to be talking about, I'm just going to divide this for you, trusting. Because this comfort only belongs to one group of people. They that trust the Lord. I'm going to talk about what it is to trust the Lord. What it is to trust the Lord. And secondly, those that trust the Lord have this promise of Preservation. You know the tulip, right? Total, private, limited, atonement, unconditional election. The last one in that is the P. It's perseverance or preservation of the saint. Preservation of the saint. So this is what God says to you that trust in Him. You are preserved, kept, immutably kept, unchangeably

Then I want to talk about the afflictions that face us in verse 3. The afflictions that face us are the rod of the wicked, or the troubles of the world, or the difficulties we face, and in the last part of that verse, the chastisement of God, lest the righteous put forth his hands into iniquity. I'm going to talk about the purpose of chastisement.

So let's look at these things. First of all, let's see this matter of faith. They that trust the Lord. This comfort is not given to everyone. This preservation, this promise of being kept, this promise of immutability is not for everyone. It is specifically for they that trust the Lord. They that trust the Lord. Most religion, in some measure, trusts the Lord and themselves. There's no comfort for such men. These men that trust in their will and their salvation and their obedience, they trust in their rituals and their religious ordinances, they're like Paul's kinsmen. Remember Paul said, they have a zeal of God. Jews had a zeal for God, don't you think? Don't you think they were zealous for God? They were zealous to death, they were zealous for God. He said, I bear them record, they have a zeal for God. But listen, it's an ignorant zeal. Religion, any religion that's trusting in man, they're zealous. They're zealous. But their zeal is an ignorant zeal. It's kind of like a blind man looking for a light switch. What's the purpose? That's what religion is. They're stumbling about. Why? Because they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.

So those that trust themselves in any measure for their salvation, this is not to them. This scripture comforts only those that trust in the Lord, completely. So in opposition, all the elect of the Father, at the moment of their birth, we cease to trust ourselves. You that believe, isn't that true of you? Do you trust anything about you? There's nothing to trust, is there? You can't trust what you think, you can't trust what you feel, You can't trust the circumstance you're in. You can't trust anything because it's always changing. It's always mutable. Nothing to trust in me. I'm full of sin. We cease to trust in ourselves and we trust in the Lord.

Now it says, They that trust in Jehovah. This reminds us that we trust in God, in the sacred trinities of His person. We trust the Father, we trust the Son, we trust the Holy Spirit. Why? Because it was God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit that undertook to save us.

Behold this awesome truth that man by nature cannot and will not believe, that our salvation is so far beyond our power that it required only God could do it. Our depravity is so great that only God could save us. And therefore, when I say they that trust the Lord, we trust the Father. You that believe, you trust in the Father. Why? Because the Father, we trust that all our salvation was purposed by the Father. That's what we trust. We believe that the Father purposed our salvation.

that by an act of free grace and mercy, He chose us. From eternity, He chose us. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. Listen, according as He, the Father, chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world. And what was his purpose in this election? That we should be holy and without blame before him, motivation in love, having predestinated us under the adoption of children and the means by Jesus Christ. All of this was purposed Oh, the infinite wisdom of God to do this. Infinite wisdom of the Father to do this. Infinite grace and love here on display.

God the Father, before there was sin, before there was death, put us into union with His Son. He took you and put you into union with His Son. and made all spiritual blessings, gave us all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. So all that trust in the Lord, we trust in this, that my salvation begins with God. It doesn't begin with me. It doesn't even begin in time. It begins in eternity.

How utterly detestable then is the doctrine of of men, that bends the will of God to the will of man. That's the most detestable thing in the world. How weak is such a God that chooses, but then leaves it to man for the ultimate decision, that yields His sovereign will to man's. Matter of fact, there's no such God recorded in Scripture. You won't find Him in this book. You have to go get another book, because it ain't in this one. And if you try to find it in here, you just rip this and you take little words and you move them around and you make your own God. That kind of God's not in here. We don't trust in a God like that.

My trust in the Father is in the sovereign God. We trust in a God who said, I declared the end from the beginning. from ancient times, the things, listen, not yet done. That's what I've already determined. What? The things not yet done. Saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Now I trust in that God. We believe and we trust in a sovereign God. And the will of the Father is this, that you have all spiritual blessings. Now that's His will. That's His will. He willed that all of His elect be given all spiritual blessings by putting them into union with Christ, and we trust that God the Father, having put us in union, has made Him to be our surety.

That word surety is a wonderful word, isn't it? It goes back to in Genesis when Judah was to be surety for Benjamin. This is what he said. I'll be surety for the lad. Listen to this. If I bring him not again, let me bear the blame. In other words, he became the guarantor. It's only a picture of Christ. God made Christ to be the guarantor, the surety. to take full responsibility for our salvations. It was the will of the Father that Jesus be responsible for us. I think that's the most glorious thing in the world. That's the most wonderful thing I think I've ever heard. That the Father would make Him to be my surety. That's why Paul said in Hebrews that Jesus Christ was made the surety of a better covenant. A better covenant than the law of works. A covenant of grace that has better promises.

Jesus was made surety by the will of God. And that's what he said in 1 Corinthians 1. But of God are you in Christ Jesus. That's who I trust. I trust God who put me in Christ Jesus. who of God is made unto us. I didn't make him these things. You didn't make him these things. Of God. He has made him to be all our wisdom and our righteousness and our sanctification and our redemption. He made him to be all our salvation.

You trust in the Father? I do. Trust in Him who chose us. We trust in the Son because He was made surety. God made Him to be surety. We trust in the Lord who purposed our salvation and we trust in the person who actually accomplished our salvation. And that is the Son. The Son of God. They that trust in the Lord. We trust in the Son of God.

The Apostle in Hebrews goes to great lengths to show that Jesus Christ is our High Priest. Why? Because in order to be accepted with God, we need somebody to intercede for us. We need somebody to go between. We need somebody to make an offering that's acceptable to God. And the Apostle makes it clear that Jesus Christ is the great High Priest. He says this, But now He, Christ, Jesus, obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant which is established upon better promises.

A believer, as you look to Christ, you trust in Him, don't you? You trust in Him to be our high priest, to be my representative before God. And He's much better a high priest than any of those sons of Aaron. Any of them. Any of the tribe of Levi, Christ is a better high priest. But as our high priest, in order to be our high priest, he must have been made a man. Priests weren't taken from angels. They were taken from men. Therefore, the Son of God became a man so as to be my representative. I trust that. That's what I believe. That's what I trust. I trust that Christ has come to be my representative. to be my High Priest. And this was His ministry. This was His work to represent us to obtain both righteousness and redemption by His obedience and then by His blood.

You know, so many claim to believe in Jesus. They claim that He is the Son of God that came to save sinners. But they claim to trust a Christ who only made salvation possible. I don't believe that. I don't believe Christ made salvation possible. If He only made salvation possible, then according to the Word of God, none of us would have been saved. None of us. If one thing was left undone, if one thing was left for us to do, it would have been imperfect. It would have defiled the whole thing. Sin was mixed with all we do, so if one thing was left, He didn't make it possible, there wouldn't be any salvation. They believed that Christ came to make salvation within the reach of man. He put it right there. He put it right there. Well, that would be good if you were alive. The Scriptures say you're dead. You can put it on top of the head of a dead man, You could put it in His hand, but you can't expect Him to do anything with it. No, we trust in no such Christ. We trust that Jesus Christ, as our surety, accomplished a full and perfect salvation for all that the Father gave Him.

Why? That's what He said. I mean, John 6 is very clear in that, isn't it? He said, All that the Father giveth me. I don't know how many that is, but that's a lot. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. When they do, I'm not going to cast them out. Why? I came down from heaven not to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me, and this is the Father's will that of all He hath given Me. How many will He lose? He said, I will lose nothing, zero, not one. Why? Because I came to do the will of My Father which was to save them. That's the Christ in which we trust.

I like this, go to Hebrews 9, look at Hebrews 9 with me. We trust in the Father who chose us, but the Father chose us to be saved by Jesus Christ. Look at Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 12. Our high priest, listen to this, neither by the blood of goats and calves, I'm so thankful for that, I'm thankful we're not saved by some blood of a goat, aren't you? I'm thankful, I'm thankful for that. Not by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood.

You know what? Paul is established, he's the high priest, and then he establishes here, he's the offering. He's not only the one that offers, but he's the offering himself, and his own blood. He entered in, how many times? This is important. How many times did Christ enter into the presence of God with His own blood? once. Man, every Catholic church should close up right now. They should close their doors. The Mass is an abomination. It's blasphemy to say that Jesus Christ must be sacrificed again and again and again. The Scriptures are clear. He sacrificed Himself once and entered into the holy place. What did He do? obtained. In other words, he got it. He didn't make it possible to get, he got it. Now what did he get? Eternal redemption. How old and how enduring is an eternal redemption? It's forever, isn't it? Otherwise, it wouldn't be an eternal redemption. He got it.

And listen, for us, isn't that astounding? It's not astounding that He got it, seeing who He is. What's astounding is He got it for us. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for Him. There's the evidence right there. Those that look for Him. Those that trust Him. Do you trust Him? Is that your hope? I mean, are you putting all your eggs in this basket? I am! It's everything! He's everything. His blood, listen, obtained redemption. Now where were you when He obtained redemption? Well, I was in Him. Why? Because God put me there.

So you who believe, you who trust, you are in Him when He attained redemption. And the third person that we trust is the Spirit of God. Now all of this was done completely outside of us. It didn't have anything to do with this election. It didn't have anything to do with this redemption. You weren't around. You didn't see it. Yet it was all done for you. And yet we are clear that everyone the Father chose and everyone the Son redeemed, they must themselves believe. They must. They must trust in Christ. And all who trust in Christ plus something else, That's not the work of God. I think of Uzzah a lot when I think of somebody trusting in Christ plus themselves. I think of that man Uzzah. Remember as they carried that Ark of the Covenant on that cart, they weren't supposed to, and David did it and it was a sin, but that ox stumbled and that Ark of the Covenant, which they reverence so much, had began to fall, and this man, and I want to give him all the credit that I can, with all the sincerity of his heart, did not want that ark to fall in the mud. He revered it, he reverenced it, and he put his hand up to stop it. And the time he put his hand on it, God killed him.

David was upset at that for a while, but he didn't understand what it meant. If you put your hand to the work of Christ, God will kill you. And that's just plain language. Nobody can misunderstand that. You put your work with His, and God will kill you. Because it's not honoring to Him. I don't care how sincere you think you are about it. It's not honoring to Him. It's dishonoring.

I also think of that man with the wedding garment. Remember him? What was the message? The message was, all is ready, right? The king had prepared a wedding feast for his son. He chose the bride for his son. He made the feast. It was all ready. And he made the wedding garments that you were to wear. He made everything. And he said, oh yeah, just come. And that one man came with his own garments. You remember he was cast out where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. Why? Because that's what self-righteousness is, when you try to add your work to Christ's.

We don't trust in our work in Christ, do we? Not in the least. My trust is in Christ's work all alone, by itself. His work. His work. His glory. We that trust

We trust this also, that the application of this redemption is by the power of the Spirit of God. Now, we were born dead. No elect person God chose, no person that Christ redeemed was born any different than any other son of Adam. No difference. We are all born dead. We're all born dead. God chose us and Christ redeemed us. We were born dead. We had no ability to trust in Christ. No ability whatsoever. Except the Holy Spirit come and give us life and faith.

You remember when he told Nicodemus, I like this, he told Nicodemus, you must be born again. Now he wasn't telling Nicodemus he had to go do something. He was telling something that must happen to him. He said, Nicodemus! You must be born again. Just like He said, I must, needs, go through Samaria. There was someone there. There was an elect person there. And this person, Nicodemus, was one of God's chosen. And He said, you know, Nicodemus, you're going to be born again. Why? You must. The Father chose you. I came to redeem you. Therefore, you must be born again. You must be born again. Why? Because God purposed it. Because Christ purchased it, the Spirit of God then must and will come to every elect sinner and give them life. They must be born again.

Go to John chapter 1. Go to John chapter 1. I just preached this recently. John chapter 1. As many as received Him. Verse 12. As many as received Him. To them gave He the right to become the sons of God, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

Now listen, I've preached to everyone I can that they should believe on Christ. I mean, without hesitation. This is the message, isn't it? Believe. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And what? And thou shalt be saved. This is the message I preach. I preach a victorious message. I preach that God has an elect people. I preach that Christ has accomplished redemption for the elect. You know what the thing is? I don't know who they are. I have no clue. So what do I do? I tell everyone to believe. But it is the work of the Holy Spirit to make that effectual to the heart. I can't do it. I tell you to believe, and you should believe.

And listen, if you will not believe, you will die in your sins, and it will be all your fault. If you end up in hell, it will be all your fault. You ain't gonna blame God. You want to, but you won't be able to. But if you end up in heaven, And if I could say this, it's God's fault. The responsibility lies with God if I ever end up in glory. Why? Because the Spirit of God has to give the person life in order for them to believe.

We say if any man thirsts, let him drink of the water of life freely. What's the requirement? Thirst! It's free to everyone who's what? Thirsty. And we know this, that no man can ever come to Christ by his own nature. You know why I know that? Because Jesus tells me that. John 6, 44. The same text I just gave you, John 6, saying, All that the Father giveth me. And he also, they started murmuring about that. They started griping. They went and started debating doctrine. They started debating doctrine. And he said, what in the world are y'all doing that for? That ain't going to amount to anything. No man can come unto me. Is that complicated? Is that difficult? Is that a deep theological thing that you can't understand? Jesus said no man can come unto me. Now is that true or is that a lie? Because religion says it's a lie. We know who's lying. Christ's not lying.

No man can come to me, listen, except, and I love this, except the Father which hath sent me draw him. There must be a divine act of power in order for us to trust in the Lord. They that trust in the Lord. We trust this, that our faith And our spiritual life is a divine act of God upon us. Undeserved, unmerited, unwanted. The Spirit of God comes and gives life. And listen, Scripture says, as many as received Him. You know what it is to receive something? It's to take it in. It's to grab a hold of it and bring it in to yourself. That's what it means.

Now you got somebody dying of thirst and you set a glass of water out there, what do you think the odds are he's going to grab it? Why is he going to grab it? I mean, are we really going to place odds on that? He's dying! He's got to have it! He has no choice in the matter! It's either that or death! He grabs it, he needs it! And why does he need it? Because he's thirsty! You see, why do we need Christ? Because God reveals we're sinners. And the only way a man can receive Christ is if he is given life to receive Christ.

Notice, as many as received Him, to them gave you the right to become the sons of God, which were born. Here's the root cause. Will is not the root cause. Will is not the root cause of our trust in Christ. That's not the root cause. The root cause is birth. Without spiritual birth, you could not receive Him. Now, how were you born? You that receive Him, you that trust in Him, they that trust in the Lord. Who are they? They're the ones born, not of blood. Not of blood. This hit the Jews pretty hard. They believed that their salvation was kin to their bloodline. He said, no, it's not. What you think about that, that's not true. Spiritual birth does not come by bloodline. Nor does it come by the will of the flesh. That does away with all Arminian preaching. It just does. It's just simple. It's plain. It does away with all free will works religions. Gone. You see, no one receives Christ, no one receives this birth by will. And not by the will of some other man. This again closes the door of the Catholic Church because they believe some other man could give you life. That some other man could give you forgiveness. Some other man could mediate between you and God. No. No. Jesus said that's not how a new birth comes either.

Where does it come from? God. You that believe know this. That your faith and your spiritual life come from God. Come from God the Holy Spirit.

Now then, you that trust the Lord, you trust that God chose you. God purposed your salvation. You didn't know anything about this until You revealed it, but this is how, when God revealed it, you understood it. That my salvation was purposed of God the Father. It was accomplished by God the Son. All of it was done by God the Son. And then it was applied by the Holy Spirit. Do you trust the Lord? Is that your hope? Is it all on Christ? Then you know this, salvation's of the Lord. That's what Jonah found with all that whale vomit on him as he got out on the beach and he vomited up. You know what he knew? Salvation's of the Lord. When God caused us to breathe the breath of life and the breath of faith, we knew this, salvation's of the Lord. And we trust the Lord.

Now then, look back at your text and I want to give you some comfort. I'm not going to get to the last part, but that's okay. I'm going to get to this part because this is vitally important for you that trust the Lord. It's vitally important as we journey along because of the afflictions and troubles of this life, because of the difficulties and trials of this life, this is vitally important for your comfort.

Listen, they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. Mount Zion. Mount Zion was the place where God established His worship. Mount Zion was the place where God manifest His presence in the temple, behind the veil. It was where the atonement was made. It was where the sacrifices were made. So by this God is telling you, those who trust in Christ, Your salvation is as immutable as my throne. He says, just as sure as Mount Zion.

Listen, so are you secure. Your salvation is secure. You think of a mountain. A mountain. How firm is a mountain? Again, I just told you this earlier. Mount Zion is still there. You can go over there. You can stand on top of it if you want to. It's right there. You may not be able to get in. I think they've got a mosque on top of it or something like that there now. But it's still there.

What is God saying? He's saying everyone that trusts in Christ, listen to me, your salvation is just as sure as Christ's throne. It's sure. It cannot be removed. It abideth forever. This is the oath and promise of God to all who trust in Christ. That all who are in Christ are founded upon Christ. My righteousness is founded upon His righteousness. My redemption is founded on His blood. My acceptance with God is totally dependent upon Jesus Christ.

And so all who are founded upon His righteousness and established by His blood, God swears that you shall not be removed forever. That's eternal security. He used to say, once saved, always saved. That's right. That's right. That's so.

I don't think people who say that actually fully understand that their salvation began in eternity. I was once saved in eternity. Guess what? I'm always saved to eternity. My salvation began way back there, but I know this, you that believe, you that trust, this is what we have to lean on constantly because all of our feelings change about this. All of our thoughts change. We ourselves change.

And God says, listen, your salvation is not dependent on you. That's why it's secure. I like that. He says that in the covenant, to give you an expected end. A sure end.

You know, when David came to the end of his life, he said, though my house be not so with God. Man, David's house was a mess when he died. It was not ordered. It was not perfect. And He said, regardless of that, He has made with me an everlasting covenant, listen, ordered in all things and what? Sure. That's what God's telling you here. As you journey to Zion, listen, it's sure. There's no question you'll make it. Why? Because God said you won't be removed.

Notice this next verse, it says, As the mountains round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people." Listen, from henceforth even, for how long? Ever. Not only is God underneath you, supporting you as a mountain, listen, He's all around you. I like Jerusalem as a good picture because Jerusalem's situation was amazing. It was surrounded by mountains. It was a natural defense. You couldn't attack it from any side except one. There was a north gate, there was a north road that led into that place. What a picture of Christ, isn't it? There's only one way in. Only one way in to Zion. Christ! Once in Zion, guess what? You're surrounded. Surrounded. That's what God says about Himself. He says, I surround my people. I surround my people. God is like the mountains that surround Jerusalem. He encompasses His children, and none of them shall ever be lost.

Go to John 10, real fast, John chapter 10. Look what our Lord Jesus Christ said about this, eternal security. Look at verse 20. You can look at verse 27. He said, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. They trust Me. They believe on Me. They heard My voice that said, Live. And what did we do? We lived. We heard His voice. Believe. And what did we do? We believed. We follow Him. And He says, I give Unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. There's your promise, isn't it? You that believe, you have eternal life. Why? He said, I give it to you. When do you ever deserve this? When do you ever reach a point you say, yeah, now I'm sure I have eternal life because I've done never not God's people. We never reach that point where you think we deserve any of this. He just said, I give it to them. That's a divine directive. I give them eternal life. And what's the result? They shall never perish. Never perish.

Listen to this, neither. shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand." Listen, not like they're not going to try. He just said they won't be able. Don't you feel as though you're being pulled? pulled by the Satan, the world, and the worst is self, always trying to pull us away from Christ. You know what? He said they won't be able. They won't be able to. Why? I give them eternal life. No man will be able to pluck them out of my hand. So therefore we are supported from underneath and surrounded. The scripture says in Deuteronomy 33 and verse 27, the eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms. God says, I'm around you, I'm underneath you, I'm over you, you're mine. and no one can take you away from me.

Like I said, we don't always feel that. Our circumstances don't always seem to support that. The enemies around us are real, and the pains we feel, the hurts we feel, are very real and they seem to pull at our souls.

But our confidence is not in ourselves, is it? We trust in the Lord for a very specific reason. Because He's all our salvation. And if He's all our salvation, He says they shall be as Mount Zion and cannot be removed. Why? Because like the mountains of Jerusalem, I surround them. I envelop them, I am their refuge, I am their shield, I am their exceeding great reward.

Listen, if any man could ever be taken out of the hands of Christ, listen, because he thought he put himself in it. He thinks he's done something to put himself in it. If a man's done something to put himself into Christ, surely he can do something to take himself out.

I didn't do any of it. I didn't put me in Christ. He did. He redeemed me. He called me. The faith that I have, He gave me. That's why Peter said this. You are kept by the power of God.

Now, think about that. You are kept. Not by just any power. It is the power of God. that keeps you through faith. How do you know you're kept? Because I'll tell you what, if it's based on my conduct, if my judgment of being kept is based on my conduct, I would never have assurance of anything. My conduct, no, through faith.

Faith is the evidence that we are being kept. We are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed.

Have you ever, I mean, it's not like you haven't wanted to give up. Why haven't you? Why haven't you given up? Why are you still here? It's the same message. These things I've preached to you, I'm not preaching anything different, anything new. Why would you still want to hear these things? You're kept.

Aren't you glad to be kept? I mean, if He takes everything. But you have this. What are you missing? You know, I've told you this several times, that passage in Psalm 23. As the shepherd leads his sheep, the scripture says that we are like surrounded by our enemies. He makes us to lie down in green pastures and we're surrounded by our enemies.

It's like a shepherd leading his sheep to the lion's den and then daring them You try to take one. Can they? Well, it depends on the shepherd, right? God's our shepherd. Christ's our shepherd.

Now, who shall remove you from his hand? Who? The hymn writer said, who? Who shall stand in God's presence and match omnipotence? Unfold the grasp of thy right hand and pluck the sinner thence. Who? Name him. You? No, I didn't put myself in there. I definitely can't take myself out.

Why? Because God made my salvation eternally secure. He chose me, He redeemed me, He called me, and He keeps me. And regardless of what happens, He'll still keep me.

Now listen, if you are not kept simply because you are not one of his anyway. That just proves the truth that you weren't one of his. He doesn't take a goat, make it a sheep, and then it becomes a goat again. No. You're either a sheep or you're a goat.

What does his sheep do? We trust him. In what situation, in what circumstance are you not to trust him? At what point do we say, that's too far. I can't trust you anymore. Never. Why? Because we're kept. I didn't get a second part. Told you I couldn't. I pray the Lord bless this and comfort you with it.

Now let's stand and be dismissed in prayer. Terrence, dismiss us in prayer, please. Thank you for being here. So often, David, this place seems to be so often filled with the very good. So thank you for being here with us.

Your mercy for everyone. And we'll be praying that you will keep us We pray for our brothers and sisters who lost their lives in the war. Lord, we pray that your gospel would be a force of power on this earth and throughout this world. Lord, we pray that you would give us the heart and the will of all of our family and friends and neighbors.

Well, we know that when you begin a work, you know what it takes to start that work, and if you just start it, you're going to get to see the things that you do, and what it takes, and how it takes, and why it takes, and then be a successful person. So we just rush you, and we thank you, and we love you.

That's the message. Yeah.