Heavenly Father, we ask that
as we come to Thy Word, Thou might be pleased to open it to
us. We remember the hymn, break thou
the bread of life, dear Lord, to me, as thou didst break the
bread beside the sea. We ask that this bread of life,
this nourishing, powerful, authoritative word of truth, might be broken
this night in our presence, that we may feed upon it and bless
thee for thy continuing goodness and blessings to thy people.
Amen. You don't have to turn to it,
but there's a little verse in John chapter 10, verse 28, that
I would have us remember. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. This evening, I've entitled my
message 10 Reasons for Persevering Saints. There's another way of phrasing
that. Once saved, always saved. We believe that to be a truth.
I can remember as a child encountering that for the very first time.
And this chap a little older than me said, do you believe
in once saved, always saved? And I said, yes. No. Yes. The point is this, if we
properly understand the gospel, once a believer has come to experience
the grace of God, He can never fall from that grace. Why? Because we are His workmanship. Because if we were to fall from
grace, it would be God who had failed in His task and responsibility. So this evening, as the Lord
enables, I want us to think of 10 reasons from Scripture why
once saved, always saved, why the saints of God, the church
of Jesus Christ, will and must persevere to the end. It is impossible, therefore,
let it be by way of declaration, it is impossible for an elect
child of God, a saved sinner, having once received the grace
of God, to completely lose that grace or to finally perish. That is a beautiful doctrine.
It is a wonderful teaching from the word of God. For the child
of God, it is full of comfort and it is full of blessing. It teaches about our security. It shows us how we stand and
where we stand in the overarching purpose of God for his church. And one would expect that doctrine
to be cherished and enjoyed by weak men, for that's what we
are, men and women in nature, men and women in the flesh. We
are just weak men and women. One would imagine that such a
doctrine of eternal security would thrill our hearts and be
a testimony of all men and women who had any knowledge of scriptural
things at all. And yet we see, rather we discover,
attacks opposition. ridicule, mockery of that doctrine. And we find that there are many
who want to take away from the Lord's children this bread upon
which their souls can feed and deny that they are eternally
secure, rather placing all of the emphasis for continuing in
the faith upon the will of the individual, and thereby giving
no eternal security whatsoever, but leaving the soul's eternal
well-being to the will of the weak and the failing individual. The reason for this, I believe,
is because we are continually dealing with vain imaginations. We construct and construe doctrines
and teachings of our own based upon scripture, undoubtedly. Men will take verses from here
and there and they will link them together and they'll say,
this suits us, this we are pleased to stand upon, this we are pleased
to uphold. In Romans chapter 1 and verse
21, the apostle Paul writes, because that when they knew God,
they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became
vain in their imaginations, their foolish heart was darkened. And what we encounter today is
men with foolish imaginations, with darkened hearts, who cannot
see that which God has done, that which Christ has accomplished,
that which the Holy Spirit has secured. And I suggest to you
that the principal reasons for this is that man thinks better
of himself than he ought. Men imagine that they do not
need this truth, once saved, always saved. Men imagine that
the doctrine of eternal perseverance, the doctrine of the perseverance
and preservation of the saints is something that they have no
requirement for because they are able to sustain themselves
in the faith, because they are able to do all that is necessary
to keep themselves following and believing in Christ. Furthermore,
it is a teaching that is contrary to what we might expect. We expect people to be dealt
that which they deserve. We expect people to get what
is coming to them. And yet here is God telling us
that out of His magnanimity, out of His goodness, out of His
mercy and His grace, He has declared that he will gather to himself
a people, he will deal with all of their needs, he will secure
them for all eternity, and he will freely bestow all of these
blessings upon them. And it is so contrary to what
we might expect. We say it cannot be true. We
must construct another way of interpreting these things. We
must undermine this teaching in order that we can placate
our own ideas of how things ought to be. And of course the reality
there is that we're toppling the structure that God has set
in place. We are regarding God as subject
to man, rather than recognizing that man is subject in all his
ways to God. And there is another reason why
there is great opposition to this teaching. And that is that despite their
foolish hearts, men and women realize that to accept the teaching
of once saved, always saved, will ultimately lead to the belief
in all of the doctrines of God's free and sovereign grace. It
will ultimately drive a man, if he believes in one saved,
always saved, to appreciate and realize that all the doctrines
of God's grace are true, and that man is incapable of doing
anything for himself in order to secure his eternal well-being. Therefore, we find that men oppose
this teaching at every point, and they seek to undermine that
which is a beautiful truth, that which ought to comfort and encourage
every child of God, and that which ought to be the security
upon which we lay hold in this life of variableness and uncertainty. Thus we can say that it is only
by divine illumination that gospel truth can properly be understood. It is only when God reveals these
things to the hearts and minds of men and women that a true
appreciation of these doctrines will be grasped. Our test must
always be what saith the scripture. And in John chapter 10 that we
just quoted a few minutes ago, we learn that the Lord Jesus
Christ himself has said in verse 28, I give unto them eternal
life. Here is a people to whom eternal
life has been bestowed. So a way with those who deny
once saved, always saved. If God has said, I give unto
them eternal life, if Jesus Christ has declared, I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand, then who are we to disagree with
the word of God? Let us subject our hearts and
our minds to his truth. Let us endeavor, as he enables
us by his grace, to lay hold upon these things that we might
find him to be our all in all, that we may be comforted each
day of our life by these things which he has for us. If you'll turn with me to John
chapter 14 again, and look at verse two and three. Here the Lord Jesus Christ is
speaking to his disciples very shortly before he is ready to
go to the cross. And he says to them, by way of
comfort and encouragement, in my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. But
where I am, there ye may be also. Now we know that these words
are not simply attributable to those disciples to whom the Lord
was speaking. Indeed, the Lord has been away
for many years since these disciples have died, and yet this ever-present
word continues, that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back,
and when he returns, he comes for his church, he comes for
his people, he comes for his bride. He has been away for two
millennia, preparing this place for us, preparing these mansions.
Someone once said it took the Lord six days to create the heavens
and the earth. For 2000 years, he's been preparing
these mansions. What must they be like? What
must they be like? If the church, having trusted
in Christ, is not preserved, then we have been cheated and
deceived in an incredible way. But what the word of God tells
us is that the Lord's people will be preserved. And here are
10 reasons how that will be accomplished. The first one is this. If the
church is not preserved, then God's choice and God's calling
of sinners is made meaningless. God's elective purpose is meaningless
if the church is not preserved. There's a little verse in Romans
chapter 8 and verse 28 that I'm sure you all know. It's a verse
that is frequently mentioned, referred to whenever something
troubling or terrible happens. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to His purpose. You know that people who don't
believe in eternal perseverance quote that all the time? We know
that all things work together for good to them that love God.
We know that all things work together for good to them that
love God. And yet they don't believe in
one saved, always saved. Well, what is it then of these
all things that work together for good that went wrong? if a child of God is not eternally
preserved? Is it the heart that having once
chosen Christ, now decides not to choose Christ? Well then,
is the heart not part of the all things that work together
for good to those who love the Lord? Is it faith that once we
had faith, but now we don't have it anymore? Is faith not something
that works together for good to those who love the Lord? How
then can faith fail? How can the heart turn? If all
things work together for good to those who love the Lord, they
must be kept safe. They must be preserved. They
must be upheld. The heart of the sinner, the
faith of the believer must always be kept upon that person, that
one who has secured their deliverance. And if all things work together
for good, then what greater good is there than the entrance into
glory by the child of God? This is the greatest good, and
if all things work together, then the evidence must be that
God's choice, God's calling of sinners, even in this verse,
speaks to us of the fact that the church will be preserved,
that salvation will always be there. If all things work together,
then what is going to cause us harm? Every true believer, then,
can be sure of persevering. unto the end. The second point
that I want to make is this. If the church, having trusted
in Christ, is not preserved by God unto salvation, then Christ
cannot, in fact, be trusted at all. Now bear with me. I trust that I am not being disrespectful
in even suggesting such a thing of our great and glorious God.
But the dependability of the God-man must be in doubt. For
if the Lord Jesus Christ has said that this is the Father's
will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me,
I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last
day. If the Lord Jesus Christ has
said that, that this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that
I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day,
and he fails to do that, then he has failed to complete his
father's will. He has come into this world in
order to do something, and he hasn't done it. And that would
mean that Christ was not God. That would mean that the God-man
failed, and when he said, it is finished upon the cross, he
was not telling the truth. Therefore, we have to say that
every believer can be sure of persevering to the end because
he is able and he is committed to do all his father's will. The God-Man accomplished all
that He was sent to do. And the Lord Jesus Christ assures
us that He will raise up on that last day every single one, every
single sinner that God the Father placed into His hands within
the covenant of grace. He cannot lose one, or He will
have failed in His task. Supposing He saves 99 out of
the 100. Ninety-nine sheep safe in the fold, where is the shepherd? He's out on the hillside looking
for the lost sheep, for he must bring it home, and all must be
delivered safe. Thirdly, if the church, having
trusted in Christ, is not preserved by God unto salvation, then what
shall we make of the covenant of grace? The Bible speaks much
of God's covenantal purposes. We can trace the covenant throughout
the scripture. It's spoken of in the Old Testament.
It's spoken in the New Testament. Perhaps one of the loveliest
references that we have to it is found in 2 Samuel chapter
23. There in verse 5, David is speaking. It's coming near to the end of
his life. He's an old man. He has seen
much. In his days, he has seen much of the beauty and the glory
of God, and he has tasted much of the bitterness of life. He
has seen his family implode. He has seen his children doing
despicable things to one another. And he has seen much that has
caused that heart to be downcast. But he says, this is all my salvation. What is all his salvation? That the covenant of grace is
ordered in all things unsure. that the covenant of grace is
ordered in all things and sure. David says, that's all my salvation,
that God has promised that he will save me. Ordered in all
things means that it is set in place. It means that it is purposefully
arranged. It means that everything has
been set appropriately within the covenant of grace, within
this plan that God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit
had contracted together to accomplish in eternity for the deliverance
and salvation of sinners in this world. God the Father having
a chosen people whom he had foreknown, whom he had loved, whom he had
predestinated from before the foundation of the earth, that
the Lord Jesus Christ, recognizing that fall of that elect people
within that Adamic fall at the beginning of the word, would
go and recover, would go and redeem and bring back Jacob. Here we see Christ fulfilling
His part of that covenant, and the Holy Spirit taking His role
also within this covenant to bring and illuminate and enliven
and quicken and regenerate and call, and all the words that
the Scripture uses to speak about this almighty act of creative
power that the Holy Ghost is accomplishing in the hearts of
men and women so that the triune God in all of His ways, in all
of His purposes, will be vindicated, Father, Son and Holy Spirit agreeing
together in union and the covenant of grace, sure and steadfast. Maybe that's why they call it
the everlasting covenant. because it assures everlasting
life to the people of God. Ordered and sure. Then, if the
covenant of grace is thus ordered and sure, as David has declared,
as the word of God tells us, as you are obligated to believe
by the authority of this book, then Every believer can be sure
of persevering in the end. And if the church, having trusted
in Christ, is not preserved by God unto salvation, then fourthly,
what would it mean to be united to Christ? What would be the
value of that? What would be the meaning? What
would be the implications of such a statement? We read in
John chapter 14 and verse 19 and 20, because I live, ye shall
live also. Okay, what's not clear about
that? Because I live, ye shall live
also. Who do we follow? Do we follow
a dead Christ or do we follow a living Lord? If he is alive,
will we not live also? those who follow Him, those who
trust in Him, those who are united to Him, those who are in union
with Him. Because I live, ye shall live
also. At that day ye shall know that
I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. The church's
union, believers' union with Christ is as sure, according
to this verse, as the union between Father and Son. It's as certain
as that. And therefore, there is nothing
and there is no one that can come between the believer and
the Lord. That union that has taken place,
those promises that have been given, that promise that because
I live, ye shall live also. The Lord Jesus Christ is alive
forevermore, and if he lives, we live, as we trust in him and
believe in his name. Therefore, every believer can
be sure of persevering to the end. Another argument that we
may bring forward for the perseverance of the saints is, fifthly, the
intercession of Christ for his people. Now, there's a lot of
talk these days about interceding one for another or those who
intercede and those who pray for one another. The greatest
intercessor, he who intercedes for his people is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he is in his father's presence
right now, the God-man, interceding for his people. Listen to what
John chapter 11, 42 says. And I knew that thou hearest
me always. That's the Lord speaking to his
father. He says, I know. I know you hear
me always and that's eternally. The Lord Jesus Christ always
has his prayers heard and granted by his father. The holy God is
pleased with his son. This is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. And He bestows everything that
His Son requires and everything that His Son requests. In John
17, verse 9, He says this, I pray for them. Who does He pray for? He prays for His people. He prays
for His church. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world. pick up that ball and run with
it for a while if we so desired. He prays for the church, he doesn't
pray for the world. I pray for them, I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they
are thine. You see, these were the people
committed into his hand. These were the people that were
committed to him. This is what the covenant of grace is all
about. This is the persons of the Godhead laboring together
to secure the eternal deliverance and salvation of the beloved
flock of God. This is Christ declaring. In Luke chapter 22 and verse
31 we read, the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired
to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that
thy faith fail not. You see, if the Lord prays for
something, then it will be secure. The Lord prayed that the faith
of Peter would not fail. Those who believe in free will
must balk at verses like that. How on earth can they believe
in free will if Christ says, I've prayed that your faith will
not fail. Well, isn't it up to me whether
or not I want to have faith? Isn't it up to me whether or
not I want to believe? Christ has prayed for Peter's
faith. Oh, well, maybe then Peter was
the only one that didn't have free will. No. If Christ prays for something,
it is assured and it is accomplished. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me. If Christ asks his father
for anything, it is blasphemy to suggest that his request goes
unanswered. Therefore, every believer can
be assured of persevering to the end. Sixthly, the Holy Spirit's
promise to be forever with the church would be simply wrong. It would either be a mistake
that the Lord Jesus Christ made, or it would be a lie that he
told. He said in John chapter 14, that he was sending, in verse
16, that he was sending another comforter. I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another comforter. Now that would be
good, that would be good if that's all that the Lord had said. But
he went on to qualify that. And he said that he may abide
with you forever. forever. Now, if the father and
the son agree together to send the Holy Spirit that he might
abide with the church forever, and the church is the gathering
of every individual believer, then the Holy Spirit must abide
with every single believer forever. It's not difficult. These words
are not overly technical. They're not hard to understand. If the word of God says that
he will abide with us forever, then abide with us forever he
will. And the Lord Jesus Christ has
promised that it be so. The Holy Spirit will not abandon
his post. We, in our preparation for coming
over here, we watched some of your Civil War movies so that
we would know what we were going to find when we came over to
Tennessee. Well, it's not been quite like
I imagined. But I do remember what happened to defectors in
the face of the enemy. They were taken out and they
were shot. The Holy Spirit will not defect from his post within
the covenant of grace for any child of God, no matter how fierce
the battle may become in your experience or in mine. No matter
what Satan throws against us, we will always be comforted. No matter how fierce the battle
becomes, as far as temptation is concerned, as far as trouble
is concerned, as far as the bitterness of this world is concerned, We
will never stand alone because Christ has promised that we will
be comforted in every situation. The Holy Spirit will be there
and he will defend and he will protect and never will he go
absent in the face of trouble. He is with us forever. Therefore,
every believer can be sure of persevering to the end. If the church, having trusted
in Christ, is not preserved by God unto salvation, then that
same church would have no reason for joy in the earth. And yet,
we're told in Philippians, I'm sorry, yes, Philippians chapter
three, verse one, My brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Now, the trouble with those who
say that we can lose our salvation is that every day is a potential
day for losing your salvation. Every hour is a potential hour
for losing your salvation. What would happen if you came
into church tonight a believer, and you went out of church, lost
eternally. What sort of occasion for joy
might that be? How can anyone have any peace
in never being sure if they will make it through the next minute
still believing in the Lord Jesus Christ? What happens if a scientist
comes up with such a discovery that he throws over all the teaching
that the Bible has given us? Will we give up our faith in
that situation? What happens if the devil brings
such a temptation upon us that we fall into sin? Will we give
up our faith in that situation? What happens if the troubles
of our life and the experiences of our relationships and the
trials that we have to face overwhelm us to such a degree that we give
up our faith in that situation. Can we be sure that any day will
pass and we will still be Christ's at the end of that day? Where's
joy then? And yet the Lord says, rejoice
in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. How
could we possibly rejoice every day if we could have lost our
salvation by the end of the day, having begun the day as a believer
in the Lord? There is no joy, there is no
peace, there is no comfort in such a situation. It turns everything
on its head if a believer can lose his faith. And we cannot
be at peace in this world. If our enemy can overwhelm us,
if our enemy can beat us, then there is no joy. Our joy is in
the Lord and in the victory that he has accomplished. Our joy
is in the fact that Satan is now a defeated enemy. Oh, he
might rage and he might roar and he might endeavor to throw
all manner of things against the church and against the Lord's
people, but he is already beaten. Christ, that strong man has entered
into his home and he has led captivity captive. Our Lord is
victorious and every believer can be sure of persevering to
the end and every believer is entitled to the comfort of an
assurance that having once trusted in the Lord that he is saved
for all time and eternity. Eighthly, The triune God would be defeated
in all of his ways if the church of Jesus Christ, having once
trusted in him, could lose their salvation. In Romans chapter
8, 28, we've already referred to it. We're told there that,
the verses following, that God had predestinated his church
whom the Lord foreknew he predestinated to be conformed to the image
of his son. The Lord Jesus Christ redeemed
the church. Look at Galatians chapter three
with me. Galatians chapter three and verse
13. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on the tree. Christ hath redeemed
us. The Father has predestinated
the church to glory. The Son has redeemed the church
for glory. The Holy Spirit, Psalm 110, verse
3, He calls the church to glory. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. He calls the church to glory. And the persons of the Godhead
are united in this purpose that they who believe will be brought
to salvation. Ultimately, if the opposite be
true, then we discover that the creature must take preeminence
and must succeed at the expense of the Creator. We must reckoned
that man is stronger than the triune God. We must believe that
it is possible that the predestinating purpose of God, the redeeming
work of Christ, and the effectual call of the Holy Spirit doesn't
actually suffice sufficiently to save a sinner. If that's true,
then the triune God is defeated in all of his ways. And those
who uphold the teaching that men can lose their salvation
do not believe in the power and the omnipotence and the glory
of God. It's as simple as that. Ninthly,
we're getting to the end. The names by which the church
is known throughout scripture are meaningless. The church is
called the people of God. The church is called those who
are the redeemed. Now, you don't have to look all
of these up. If you're taking notes, then scribble down the
reference. But I just want to quickly go
through several of the names that are given to the church.
And listen to these names as they are given. Because they
all speak of the continuing deliverance and salvation of the choice people
of God. In Deuteronomy chapter 32 and
verse 9, the people of God are called the Lord's own portion
and the lot of His inheritance. The Lord's own portion and the
lot of His inheritance. Now hands up, who wants to dare
take away the inheritance of God? You take away your neighbor's
inheritance and he'll punch you in the nose. God's inheritance
is sure. And he has promised that this
people whom he has named, that he has numbered, that he has
gathered, that he has redeemed, that are the very prize and inheritance
of all the labors of the God-man, they will be his lot. They will
be his inheritance. And none will remove them out
of his hands. Malachi 3.17, they're called
his jewels. his jewels. Song of Solomon chapter 8 verse
6. They're called his bride, set
as a seal upon his heart. and on his arm. Isn't that lovely? His bride, a seal upon his heart
and upon his arm. Well, that speaks to me of the
compassion that the Lord Jesus Christ has for his people. And
it speaks to me of the strength that we'll be able to deliver
them from all their foes. Who is going to stand against
Christ? Who is going to defeat my Lord? Who is going to steal
me out of his hand? When he loves me, you love your
children, don't you? What wouldn't you do for your
children? What wouldn't you do against an intruder who enters
into your home and seeks to do harm to those that you love?
He has us upon his heart. He has us upon his arm, his bride
whom he loves. Isaiah 49, 16, we're told that
we are graven on the palms of his hands. Graven speaks to me
of chiselling out of stone. Graven on the palms of his hands,
their walls continually before him. I was looking for a hymn. I was going to suggest that we
would sing a particular hymn this evening if it was in our
hymn books, and it wasn't. So I thought, well, we'll pass
that over then. And then we sang a hymn that
wasn't in the hymn books anyway. Never mind, I'm going to read
the verses to you. Some of you will know this. I'm
sure that you will all be blessed just by hearing these words,
supposing you forget everything else that I've said this evening.
These are the words of a gentleman called Augustus Montague Toplady. Listen to this. A debtor to mercy
alone. Of covenant mercy I sing. Nor fear with thy righteousness
on My person and offering to bring. The terrors of law and
of God With me can have nothing to do. My Saviour's obedience
and blood Hide all my transgressions from view. the work which his
goodness began, the arm of his strength will complete. His promise
is yea and amen, and never was forfeited yet. Things future,
nor things that are now, nor all things below or above, can
make him his purpose forgo, or sever my soul from his love. My name from the palms of his
hands, eternity will not erase. Impressed on his heart it remains,
in marks of indelible grace. Yes, I to the end shall endure,
as sure as the earnest is given. More happy, but not more secure,
the glorified spirits in heaven. What words? There was a man who
knew where his comfort lay. Just died young, Augustus, 38
years of age. Maybe the Lord takes the beautiful
ones more quickly than the rest of us, eh? He knew something
of that eternal security. That last line is perhaps one
of the greatest lines in all poetry. more happy, but not more
secure, the glorified spirits in heaven. To be able to conceive
of such beautiful theology and doctrine and then put them into
such glorious words is truly a grace from on high. I've got another name that is
given to the Lord's people. In Ephesians chapter 5 and Colossians
1, 18, we read, they are members of Christ's body, of his flesh,
and of his bones. Very close union in that, isn't
it? Members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. You
can't get any closer than that. Who's going to take away part
of the Lord? He who is the head, we who are
his body. Is someone going to cut us off
and remove us? Is someone going to amputate
the church from the Lord Jesus Christ? Is someone going to take
us away? John 15, verse 1 and 2, we are
called the living branches of the true vine. John 3, 29, and
2 Corinthians 11, 2, the bride of Christ, espoused to Christ,
who is the bridegroom. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 9, Isaiah
26, verse 4, and others, we are called the Lord's building, founded
upon the rock of ages. Words have no meaning if these
things do not give comfort to the heart of a believer. Zechariah
2.5, we are surrounded by God himself as a wall of fire. Isaiah 33.16, they are defended
by rocks. 1 Peter 1.7, their faith is more
precious than gold. Hebrews 6.19, their hope is an
anchor, sure and steadfast. John 17.24, they must behold
the glory which the Father has given to Christ. All these names
would be meaningless if a believer could lose his salvation. Tenthly and finally, if the church
If believers, having once trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, could
lose their salvation, then I ask you, for whom is Christ preparing
a place in heaven? We read these verses from John
chapter 14. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. Present tense, I go to prepare
a place for you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Now, if the Lord is not sure who is going to be there looking
for a house, looking for a mansion, if the Lord doesn't know who
is going to be waiting for him when he comes back, we've got
a problem. There are either going to be
mansions uninhabited, which Christ has prepared for his church,
and they're not going to be filled, or there's gonna be double bookings.
Because he hasn't prepared enough, and there's more people coming
than he expected. It's ludicrous, isn't it? Ludicrous. I go to
prepare a place for you, and if I go, I will come again and
take you unto myself. These mansions that the Lord
is making, These testify to the fact that the Lord has made preparation
for those that he has redeemed. all of these testimonies, all
of these witnesses tell us that none who have trusted Christ
can ever fall away. None who have received grace
can ever fall away. None who have given their heart
and their life to Him will ever be released from that hand that
holds them eternally securely. Do we believe in once saved,
always saved? Absolutely. And it is the comfort
of our souls in the midst of a troubled world. And someday
the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back for us, and he will take
us to those mansions which he has prepared, and none will be
able to prevent him. I trust this will be a comfort
to your own hearts, as the Lord is pleased to open our understanding
to these things. Amen. Let's have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
for giving us the opportunity this evening to come around Thy
Word once again and to seek Thy face in the things which have
been said and done. We ask, if it be Thy will, that
Thou wilt be pleased to take that which has been wholesome,
honoring unto Thee, and lay it upon our hearts and cause it
to be there written that we might refer to it and be suckered by
it and draw solace from it in the days that lie ahead. There
have been things which have been said that are dishonoring to
thy name. May they quickly fly from our thoughts and never be
remembered against us anymore. But we pray that thou wilt be
pleased to feed thy people with these truths. That thou wilt
uphold us in the face of our adversities. that thou wilt be
pleased to bless thy church in these days with such confidence
and boldness that these things are true and that none can harm
us and none can remove us from the security and safety of thy
hand. We bless thee for the blood that
was spilled. We bless thee for the righteousness
which has been applied. We thank thee for the great work
which has been accomplished. And we pray that the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ will be our continuing theme all the
days of our life until we look into thy face and see thee as
thou art in that day of thy return for us, be it in death or at
thy coming. May it be so for thy name's sake.
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to
present you faultless before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy. To the only wise God, our Savior,
be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.