I believe I have a message today
that will really bless we who are the elect of God, as Brother
Travis brought out. I know I was blessed putting
it together. Have you ever doubted as a Christian? Have you ever
doubted your salvation? As a born-again believer, Ever
went through a time when you thought, I'm such a sinner, how
can I be saved? Ever went through that? Do you know that only saved people
dealt their salvation? Unsaved people aren't concerned
about their salvation. Do you know that Believers in
Christ have complete safety in Christ? I mean complete safety. Would it be a comfort to your
souls to know that it is impossible for a true, born-again, blood-washed
saint of God to fall away and to lose their salvation? Would
that comfort your soul? It sure comforted my mind putting
this message together. The scriptures proclaim in the
book of Isaiah, let's turn to Isaiah chapter 40, that the preachers
sent by God are to comfort God's people. How? By preaching the
good news of salvation in Christ alone, of preaching the complete,
perfect, sin-stoning salvation in Christ and Him alone. That's how we as God's people
are comforted. Because we do doubt. We sometimes lose our assurance. Although it's still there. Do you know when we doubt? And do
you know when we lose our insurance? I was talking to Vicki about
this last night. Do you know when that happens? when we think it's something
we have to do. Well, I'm not doing this, so
I'm such a sinner. I'm such a sinner. Surely I must
be lost, but God, you're born again by the Holy Spirit of God.
You have faith, which you didn't have before, to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. So who are we looking to then?
We're looking to ourselves, aren't we? We're saying, I'm such a
sinner that, oh my. But does God's salvation ever
change? It never does, does it? It never does. If you're saved,
you're saved. If you're lost, you're lost. Until God saves you, if it be
his will. We look to ourselves and not
the Christ, and we start doubting. Do we repent of our sinfulness?
Absolutely. It grieves us, doesn't it? But you know that the more you
grow in grace, the more you're going to see yourself as a sinner. That's what's going to happen. Look at Isaiah chapter 40. Do
you know what we need to do? I learned this reading a little
book I got by Thomas More. He was an elder at Spurgeon's
Church. And you know what he said? He
said this. He said, we need to take God
at his word. We need to believe what God says. So I want us to keep that in
mind today as we look at the scriptures. We, as God's people,
let us look to the Word of God and believe what it says. And we will find great comfort
in what the scriptures say. Look at this in Isaiah. Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. So that's a command
to God's preachers, that we are to comfort God's people. Speak
ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare
is what? Accomplished. That her iniquity
is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted. We were dead in trespasses and
sins, now we're made alive in Christ and we're seated in heavenly
places in Christ. And every mountain and hill shall
be made low. We're bought low, aren't we?
When the Lord saves us, he brings us low, doesn't he? Isaiah 40
verse 4, and the rough place is plain. Oh my, he changes us,
right? We're new creatures in Christ,
aren't we? And the glory of the Lord shall
be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. For the mouth
of the Lord hath spoken of it." See the word comfort there in
verse 1? Comfort ye, comfort ye my people.
Same Hebrew word used for both those words. It means to console
or comfort. In the passive form of the word,
it means to be comforted. such as the afflicted city of
Zion would be comforted by the Lord. So when the gospel is preached,
we as God's people are comforted through the preaching of the
gospel, right? That's what brings us comfort.
Knowing and hearing of the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ
in our place, that he came to this earth, he lived that perfect
life. Then he went to Calvary's cross, set his face like a flint
to Jerusalem, went to die on the cross, died for our sins,
shed his precious blood to purchase our souls, was buried, rose again
from the grave, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father.
That's good news. And he did that for us. He was sinless, right? He was
manifested to take away our sin, and in Him was no sin. So He
did that all for His people, in their place, for His elect,
as Travis brought out. He did that for us. And think
of that, all we who are sitting here, that was done 2,000 years
ago for us. So we couldn't have had nothing
to do with it, right? It's amazing. See, now this is
something, I found this to, look at this, see where it says, speak
ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare
is, what, accomplished, right? I didn't see this until I looked
at the Hebrew word. And that word there is to tell
us that our warfare is accomplished, right? We've laid down our arms
before God, our warfare is accomplished, and look, and her iniquity is
pardoned. us. You know what the Hebrew
word there means? For accomplished, it means to
fill, to be full, to complete, to fulfill, to finish, to satisfy. Note those words and think of
what Christ done. To complete, it is finished. To fulfill, he came and fulfilled
all that was prophesied of the Messiah. And he also fulfilled
the law for us, didn't he? To fulfill, to finish. Is our
salvation finished? Is it absolutely finished? It's
finished, isn't it? And when Christ cried on the
cross, it's finished. It's finished. There's the end of the line. One grace preacher used to say,
that means you hit the end of the line when you're riding on
the subway. You hit the end of the line, you ain't going any further. That's
the end of the line. It ain't going nowhere else.
That's what that means. It's finished. It's done. There's
nothing. There's nowhere else to go. No more. No more to be
done. It's finished. And then, to satisfy. That's all in the meaning of
that word. To satisfy. What did Christ do? He satisfied
God's law and justice. He even satisfied the wrath of
God against us, didn't he? Isn't that wonderful? It speaks
of the sacrifice of Christ, that one word right there. It's marvelous. I'll read the definition again,
to complete, to fulfill, to finish, to satisfy. Beloved, the work of salvation
is done. Christ did it all. That's why the scriptures say,
not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according
to his mercy, he has saved us. The Lord Jesus Christ, in the
room and place of his people, completed their salvation. He
fulfilled the prophecies about the Messiah, he fulfilled the
law in our place, he finished our salvation, he obtained eternal
salvation for his people, and he fully satisfied God's law
and justice, and he extinguished the wrath of God against us.
He bore it all. And he died. And he was buried. Three days
later, he rose again. And where is he right now? Seated at the right hand of the
Father, interceding for we who are his people. So we clearly see. these words
that Christ has completely finished our salvation when he died upon
the cross he completely finished the salvation of his people and
God is absolutely satisfied with the sacrifice of Christ
in the room and place of his people the sinless one died for
sinners and he saved us by the shedding of his precious precious
blood I ask you who are the saints of God, is not this comforting? That's comforting, isn't it? So when we doubt, Lord, you completed the work
for me. You died in my place. Now, if we're saved by the mercy
and grace of God, if we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God,
if the Lord Jesus Christ purchased us with his precious blood, can
we ever fall away? If God the Father, by his grace,
sent Christ to save us, I'm talking God the Father who's all-powerful,
he's absolutely sovereign, If He sent His Son and chose us
in Christ, and if we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God,
who's just as much God as the Father and the Son, just as powerful,
just as mighty, if we're born again by Him, and if Christ purchased
us with His shed precious blood, can we ever fall away then? No. Because it's God himself who
keeps us. It's God himself who keeps us.
Today I hope the scriptures will bring forth the truth that a
true child of God can never fall away. Once the Lord has saved
us, once God the Holy Spirit has
regenerated us, we can never be lost. We can
never fall away. Now, people say, well, you preach
like that, and then people think, well, I can go and do whatever
I want. No grace preacher I've ever heard says that, and I'm
not saying that either. Because I know the love of Christ
constrains us from sin. Now, do we fall into sin? Yeah. Yeah, but we repent of it, don't
we? We grieve over our sin now. Did
you grieve over your sin before the Lord saved you? Nope. Scripture says we drank it like
water, just like taking a drink of water. Didn't even bother us. The reason sin bothers us is
because we're born again. And because we know that it's
our sin that nailed Christ to the cross, isn't it? My sin did
that. And to think that he willingly
went and died on the cross for my sins, that's overwhelming
to us, isn't it? Let's turn to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 2, verse 13. We'll actually read verses 13
to 14, but this will be the first that we're going to consider.
The first point is this. It is impossible that true believers
can finally fall away and perish because of their relationship
in which they stand to God the Father. So it's impossible for
us true believers to truly fall away because of our relationship
and our standing with God the Father. And we're talking Jehovah. The self-existent one. Right? There's not an atom that moves
without him knowing about it, right? Just look at that dust. Think
of that. That dust in the sunlight just moves all over. And that
moves all according to the will and purpose of God. And that's
the one who chose us in Christ. So let us remember, What we read,
and let's take God at his word, right? I love that Thomas more
about that. Let's take God at his word. Because
God doesn't lie, does he? Now, we humans, we're liars.
But God never lies. So what he says in this word
is true. It's true. Let's keep that in
mind as we look at these scriptures set before us. That true believers
have perfect safety in Christ. Look at this, 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2 verse 13 and 14. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you. So Paul's writing to the saints
at Thessalonica and he's saying we're bound to give thanks always
to God for you. Brethren, beloved of the Lord.
Now that says that We who are the people of God are beloved
of the Lord. We don't feel that way, but that's
what God's word says. We're beloved of the Lord. Look
at this, because God, this is being a father, hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation, look at that, through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. So there's the, God's
chosen us, what? To salvation through sanctification
of the spirit, over and again. Set apart, right? And how? In belief of the truth. What
truth? God-given faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
to believe his word. Did you believe his word before
he saved you? Paper and ink, wasn't it? It's a whole different
book now, isn't it? Oh, my. Look at this, too. Whereunto
he called you by our gospel. Why were we called by the gospel
as God's people? Because he chose us in Christ
to sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. To the obtaining of the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we see here in verse 13 that
the Father's purpose concerning his people, his elect, is where?
From the beginning. So if we take God at his word,
he's telling us here that God chose us in the beginning, which
means eternity. That's truth set forth for us.
So this is showing us our relationship to the Father, right? It's showing
us how we stand before the Father. And this is all because of mercy
and grace. This isn't because of anything
we've done. This is an eternity he's done this. He chose us to salvation. And
the purpose, how is the purpose accomplished? God chose us from
the beginning. And how is that purpose accomplished? He's chosen us to salvation.
Through sanctification of the spirit and belief. of the truth. So in time and space, we're regenerated. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. And as a result of that, we believe the truth. But it all comes from God, doesn't
it? Isn't that amazing? It's just because of his mercy
and grace. It's because he chose us in Christ
The gospel is effectual to us. Where unto he called you by our
gospel? Verse 14, to the obtaining of
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the importance why Christ
must be preached. This is why it's so important
that the gospel must be preached. We're not playing games here,
are we? This is man's eternal souls. where unto he called you by our
gospel in taming the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so
that purpose is accomplished through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. Regeneration and faith, think
of this too, regeneration and faith are both the gifts of God. To be born again is a gift of
God. to have faith, to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, is a gift from God. It's wonderful. We didn't seek
it. We didn't merit it. And yet,
by His mercy and grace, He gives it to us. As I said this morning at Sunday
school, the Lord saved us. It's all His work, isn't it?
It's all His mercy. It's all His grace. And you know what? God's purposes
cannot be hindered. You ever think of that? God's
purposes cannot be hindered. If we could be saved and lost,
then God's purpose would be hindered, wouldn't it? Is anything too hard for the
Lord? So if He saves someone, it's
not hard for Him to keep them, is it? He's the God of the universe.
He's in control of everything. It's not hard for Him to keep
you and I, beloved. Not at all. God's purpose can't
be hindered. Therefore, those who are chosen
by Him to full and complete salvation in Christ must certainly be saved. Certainly be saved. And they
can never fall away. Never. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 2, verse 10. And remember, we're considering
the relationship here, the first point is the relationship that
God the Father has with his people. And it's because of the relationship
with God the Father in and through the Lord Jesus Christ that it
is impossible for true believers to finally fall away and perish.
Look at this in Hebrews chapter two, verse 10. And again, we're
gonna believe by God-given faith what the word says, right? What
it says. Martin Luther used to say, feelings
come and feelings go. But feelings will deceive you.
And it's true, our feelings can deceive us. This word will never deceive
us. God will never deceive us, who's
the author of this word. Never. Look what it says here
in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 10. For it became Him, being the
Father, for whom all things, and by whom are all things, in
bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their
salvation perfect through sufferings." What we see there, God's elect
there, His blood-bought people are spoken of as many sons. Now
what's He doing to those many sons? He's bringing them to glory. Isn't that wonderful? For whom all things, and by whom
all things in bringing many sons unto glory. It's God who brings
us to glory. See how remarkable this is? He
chose us in Christ. Earlier it said he calls us by
the gospel. And here it says he brings us
to glory. And then it says to make the
captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. He's bringing
us to glory. This is perfectly accomplished
by God, not by us. Now, do we walk in faith? Absolutely. The just shall live by faith. Absolutely. We walk in faith.
But he's going to bring us to glory. Well, what if I fall? He's going
to pick us up and he's going to carry us to glory. What if I get Alzheimer's and
I lose my mind and I don't even know what I'm saying? He's going
to take us right to glory. Isn't that wonderful? Why? Because He has us in His grip,
and we're engraved in the palms of His hand. We're ever before
Him. That's what that means. We're
ever before Him. And when it says engraved there,
I believe in the Hebrew it's tattooed. We're on His hand. He sees us all the time. That's comforting, isn't it? And think of this, the Lord Jesus
Christ is made responsible to the Father for our home bringing. He's responsible for our home
bringing. He's responsible to bring us home. Will the great shepherd ever
not bring one of his sheep home? It's impossible. everyone for
whom he shed his precious blood, he will bring us home." That's
what this verse is bringing forth, in bringing many sons unto glory,
to where he is. He's going to bring us into his
presence, all because of his grace and all because of his
mercy. Now turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 8. And we see that it's taught that the Father himself
has justified God's people, that is, he's freed us from the condemnation
which our sins justly deserved. How did he free us from the condemnation
of our sins? How did he do that? Well, he
provided an all-sufficient Savior, didn't he? His own Son, the Word
of God incarnate. And it's through his sons that
all the claims of the law against his elect were satisfied. Remember
that Hebrew word, accomplished? Satisfied, right? Was one of
the underlying definitions. And you know that he's taken
all our sins away? All of them. Past, present, and
future. They're all paid for. And you know that every hindrance
Everything that would hinder us, He's removed. Everything that would prevent
us from reaching our home and glory, He's taken away. And He is what? The way to the
Father. He's not the broad path, is he?
No, he's the small path. But he is the way. The broad
path leads to destruction. Man thinking that, well, I can
save myself. No, but the way is salvation
through Christ and him alone. And he's removed every hindrance. Any rock we trip on, gone. It's all gone. And He will bring
us to glory. He will bring us to glory. Look at this in Romans chapter
8, we'll read verses 31 to 34. What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? So if God is for His people,
His elect, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son,
he sent his son here. He sent the word of God. But delivered him up for us all,
for that means all his people, all his elect. How shall he not
with him also freely give us all things? And I absolutely love this verse.
Who shall say anything to the charge of God's elect? Well,
people say all kinds of things. But what does the scripture say
here? Who shall say anything to the charge of God's elect?
It's God that justifies. God justifies you and I as believers. If God justifies us, who can
say anything against us? Isn't that incredible? We're
in Christ, beloved. That's what this is speaking
of. We're in Christ. Who is he that condemneth? Does
God's law condemn us? No, it's satisfied, right? Does
God's justice condemn us? No, it's satisfied. Can man condemn
us? Yeah, they can say all kinds
of things about us, but they can't condemn our souls, can
they? You guys are a bunch of holy
rollers. No, we're not. We're a bunch of sinners saved
by grace. Doesn't condemn us, so does it. Man can say all kinds of evil
against us. Doesn't condemn us. Who is he that condemns? It is
Christ that died, yea, rather than is risen again. Because
of Christ, we cannot be condemned. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those in Christ Jesus. That means judgment. That's what
he's speaking of here. There'd be no condemnation, no
judgment for us, because all our sins were judged at Calvary's
cross in Christ Jesus alone. And it says, that's risen, who's
even at the right hand of God, who also make an intercession
for us. That's where he is right now. make an intercession for
poor sinners like we. And this is wonderful news, isn't
it? This is wonderful news. When we get doubt in our salvation,
we just need to go back to the Word of God, don't we? That's
where I need to go. When I get doubt in things, I
just need to go back to the Word of God. Get my eyes off myself and get
looking to Christ, right? And it's true for all of us. And then we rejoice. And remember,
this is a perfect, free, complete salvation, wrought by someone
else for us. So like Scott used to say, we
look outside ourselves and upward to Christ. He's our salvation. He's our all in all. And this is, again, a complete
atoning work performed by the Lord Jesus Christ in him alone. And this word says that, and
we need to take God at his word, right? Think of this. Think of this. We often take
others at their word all through the week. We trust that when
people are speaking to us, that they're telling us the truth,
right? Doctor says you need to do this. Well, we take him at
his word, and we do that, right? We take people at their word
all the time. We do. Well, how much more should we
take God and His word? God doesn't lie. Man lies. But
God doesn't lie. He cannot lie. He's God. He's
good. He's righteous. He's holy all the time. So seeing that this is a finished
work and that all our sins to the end of our life on earth
have been paid for, bought and paid for, of which the Father
foresaw that we would be guilty. They're already legally dealt
with. They're already judicially put away, taken away. by the atonement made for God's
people through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. His precious
blood obtained, paid for our salvation. And when he said it's finished,
that's what he meant, right? So we take God at his word and
say, God finished my salvation. He obtained eternal salvation
for me. Hallelujah. My, it's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. And this
atonement is so perfect, so complete in Christ, that it
is not possible that any true believers can ever fall away.
That's how perfect this work is. The finished work of Christ. That's how perfect it is. Turn,
if you would, to 1 Peter. Or see another reason why it's
impossible for true, born-again, blood-washed believers to fall
away. Because it's God, the Father again, and we're talking about
the relationship we have with the Father, who keeps us. And again, it's clearly written
in God's word for us. It's clearly written. Look at this, this is wonderful.
1 Peter chapter 1 verses 3 to 9. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and
that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you. Look at that,
we can't mess it up. But look at this, And again,
he's speaking to born-again, blood-washed people, look at
this, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through
manifold temptations. Remember when we studied this
book, these saints that Peter was writing to, they were going
through major persecution for their faith. And then he writes
in verse seven, that the trial of your faith, being much more
precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire,
might be found in the praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ. Whom, having not seen your love,
and in whom, though now you see him, not yet believing, you rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of
your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Now look at verse
5 of that portion, who are kept by the power of God through faith,
so we keep believing. And our faith is weak, isn't
it? I think it was Brother Zane that
said, I'm amazed at my faith like a grain of mustard seed,
and yet the Lord saves me. Oh my, our faith is fickle, isn't
it? One day we're high in the mountain,
next day we're low in the valley. But we're kept, look at that,
by the power of God through faith on the salvation ready to be
revealed in the last time. Think of this, the sovereign,
almighty God of the universe who rules and reigns Those shooting
stars, dying stars, they die at his command, according to
his will and purpose. Look out in that canopy of space
and see all them stars. Look and see the beautiful sun
in the sky, clouds that come by. Beautiful. Beautiful. Look at the sunset. We have some
beautiful sunsets here in Michigan. I'm just amazed. We have some
absolutely beautiful sunsets. That's all from the Lord. He's
done all. The very God who commands all that at his will is the one
who keeps us. I ask you this. If he's the one
who keeps us, can we ever fall away? Would it be hard for him to keep
a little wee piece of animated dust? That's what we are, right? If he keeps the stars in place
and holds all that canopy together and storms come and go according
to his will and purpose, would it be hard for him to keep us?
Not at all, eh? Not at all. But still, we're
kept by that sovereign almighty power. That's what the scripture
says right there. God's elect are not kept by their
own power. No, never. Never. You hear people say, I've got
all this faith. My faith has saved me. Well, that means it's
by your power. It's not by your power. It's
by Christ's power. That faith is given to us as
a gift. And it only has one object, and that's Christ, right? It's
Christ who saved us. Praise God for God-given faith,
right? But think of this. We're kept
by the omnipotent power of God himself. Elohim, one of the names
of God, is the strong and mighty one. Elohim keeps us. That's comforting, isn't it?
And it's because of our relationship to Elohim, the Father, that we're
kept. We're kept by His power. That's
the same power that raised Jesus from the grave, you know that? That's some power, isn't it?
That's power. Men get puffed up when they get
into higher office, and they get this power, and they get
puffed up. And you didn't get puffed up.
God gave you that power. But power puffs man up. It shouldn't,
but unfortunately, it does. But it shouldn't. No, the power we possess is nothing,
nothing compared to the power of God. So this week, let that
comfort your souls, whether you're doubting or not. Let that comfort
your souls. I'm kept by the power of Elohim. He's the one who keeps
me. He's the one who chose me in
Christ. He's the one who keeps me. Oh, it's wonderful. So we see that it's evident. that true believers, because
of their particular relationship to God the Father, can never
finally fall away. Listen to the scripture. For
if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them
also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. See, it's
God, again, who brings us to glory. It's God who chose us. It's God who redeemed us. It's
God who regenerates us. It's God who will take us home
to glory. It's all of the Lord. Salvation from beginning to end
is of the Lord. So we're to rejoice in these
wonderful truths, aren't we? We're to rejoice in these. This
is good news. We're to take God at His word. In the scriptures we just looked
at, then we've seen how it's impossible that true believers
can fall away because of their relationship with the Father.
The second point I'd like us to consider is It is impossible
that true believers can fall away and perish because of their
relationship with God the Son. With their relationship with
God the Son. He's the head, right? We're the body. No life for the body without
the head, right? You've heard me say we can live
with an arm gone, or a hand gone, or legs gone, but you take away
the head, and we're gone. There's no life then. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
6. John chapter 6. True believers are the sheep
of Christ. And never forget the responsibility,
as I said earlier, that the shepherd has to bring the sheep home. Right? So Jesus Christ, our Lord,
has a responsibility to bring us home. He already bought and
paid for us, didn't he, at Calvary's Cross? Think of that, too. He
paid for his sheep. He purchased us. Where he is. We'll look at that later. Do
you know where his private property? Where God's private property.
We'll look at that later. It'll just, it's incredible. Where his property, beloved.
He's purchased us. Look at this in John 6, verse
37, and then we'll read verse 40. All that the Father giveth me,
this is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking, and he says this. And
think of this, in light of our relationship with the Son, we
can never fall away. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. This is God in the flesh saying
this. Shall come to me. There's no wiggle room in there.
They're going to come. Right? Shall come to me. In him
that cometh to me, I will what? In no wise cast out. I'll never say, I've had enough
of you. He loved us so much that he shed
his blood for us, that he died for us. That's how much Christ
loves us. And then look at verse 40. And
this is the will of him that sent me. So now he's starting
to speak of the will of God. That everyone which seeth the
Son, by God-given faith, right, and being regenerated by the
Holy Spirit, and believeth on him, we only believe because
we're born again, may have everlasting life, and I will raise them up
at the last day. He can take us home. The Lord Jesus Christ has pledged
to the Father. He's pledged himself to the Father
for our safety and for bringing us home. That
brings us comfort, doesn't it? And you know the glory of a shepherd
is the safety and well-being of his sheep. Well, this is the glory of which
nothing can rob God the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Eternal life is not earned by the sheep, but given to them.
Given to them. With everything else that's needful
as well, we get it all in Christ. Now turn, if you would, to John
chapter 17. John chapter 17. verse 2 this is a sure statement
here this is a sure truth that the Lord Jesus Christ is going
to speak in his high priestly prayer it's only because of our union
with the Lord Jesus Christ that we can never perish or fall away
look at this John 17 verses 2 & 3 as thou has given him power over
all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
has given him And this is life eternal, that they might know
thee the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Look at this. Thou hast given
him, Christ, power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. See how it's all tying in
together? We're gods by his choosing. We're God's by Him giving us
eternal life. We're God's by redemption. We're
God's by regeneration. And we're God's by glorification
when He takes us home to glory. And it's all because, do you
know another reason that believers, true believers cannot perish?
It's because they are eternally and virtually one with Christ. We're united with Christ. Remember when Paul was persecuting
Christians? Saul said, why persecutest thou me? Saul's persecuting the
body. And the Lord says, why are you
persecuting me, Saul? See the union there? See the union between
Christ and his people? It's one. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
14 now, verse 19. Who are we accepted in? Well, we'll look at a portion
in Ephesians in a minute that we're accepted in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look what he says here in John
14, 9. We're eternally saved because he's eternal. He's the
one who saved us. God incarnated in the flesh,
the Son of God. Look at this, he says in John
14, 19. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more, but
you see me. Because I live, ye shall live
also. Why? Because he's the vine and
we're the branches. Because he's the head and we're
the body. Henry used to say, where the head is, the body will
soon follow. It's true. The head's in glory, right? Well,
the body will soon follow and be in glory with him. Now we'll
turn back to John 17 again and look at verses 20 and 22. Colossians says this, For ye
are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ
who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with
him in glory. It's magnificent. The vital union
between Christ Jesus our Lord and we who are the elect of God,
also because of an abiding abundance of Christ's intercession for
his people, were his special reward for all his sufferings. Now will anyone who's been given
to Christ by the Father, will they ever perish? Will they ever
fall away? We don't even have the power
to save ourselves, do we? Let alone to cause ourselves
to fall away. If we're kept by the almighty power of God, now
if he let us go, we'll be gone. But he won't do that. He's promised
us. And we can take him for his word when he says we're kept
by the power of God, can't we? We could take him on his word,
we could take God on his word. Look at this in John 17 verses
20 and verse 22. Verse 21st, neither pray I for
these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through
their word. Well that's us. And then it says in verse 22,
in the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them that they
may be one as even as we are one. So again, he's speaking
of the union that his people have with him. And he's also
bringing forth the union that he has with the Father, isn't
he? Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 1. Look at this. With this last one, our second
point will be done, and we're almost finished. Look at this,
Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 to 6. And we see here, the scriptures
proclaim that we're safe in Christ because of what he's done, because
of our relationship to God the Son. Ephesians chapter 1, verses
3 to 6, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places, in Christ, according as he has chosen us in him, when,
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children, remember, here bringing his sons
to glory, right? by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will." We're saved by the will of God.
"...to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath
made us accepted in the beloved." Who are we accepted in? Christ.
In him alone. Last point I'd like us to consider is this. Because of our relationship
to God the Holy Spirit, true believers cannot possibly fall
away and perish. if you would, Romans chapter
11, and then put your finger in Hebrews chapter 6. Now the Holy Spirit is within
God's elect. He's the quickening spirit. He's
the giver of life. He's eternal and divine, and
this is clearly bought out in Romans 8-11. But if the spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, look at that, he
that raised up Jesus from the dead shall also quicken your
mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. And this is quite a different
thing than being made partakers of the Holy Spirit, merely in
bestowment of miraculous gifts. In the days of the apostle, Even Judas had the ability to
do miracles. Remember, he got sent out, and
they were casting out devils. He was one of them, but he wasn't
a true disciple, was he? He was a devil, the Lord said. My, look at Hebrews chapter 6,
and we're going to see a picture here. someone who is never true
believers. Now people take this and they
say, see, see, see, you can lose your salvation. No, you can't.
This isn't speaking of true believers. Because we've seen in the scriptures
today that true believers can't fall away, right? Once we're
saved, we can't. Look at this, Hebrews chapter
6, verses 4 to 6. For it is impossible for those
who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift,
and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the
good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they
shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing
they crucify themselves, the Son of God afresh, and put him
to an open shame." Again, Judas was one of these. Judas Iscariot says, one of the
12 went to the cheap priest to betray him unto them. And when they heard it, they
were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought how
he might conveniently betray him. So Hebrews 6 is talking about
people who sit and hear the gospel, make a profession of faith, but
there's no life. They're not born again. They're not born again. I want
to also bring out something, too. People always talk about
the mark of the beast, right? You ever hear people talk about
that stuff? And even more so since this whole pandemic happened,
right? Talk about the mark of the beast. It just comes up all
the time in people's conversations, eh? What it could be, what it couldn't
be, all this speculation. Do you know that God's people
are already marked by God? You know that? We're already marked by God.
We're going to see it in Scripture. We're going to see it in Scripture.
We're already marked by God. You know when it talks about
being sealed by the Holy Spirit of God? In the Greek, that means
you're marked. That means you're marked. Now, in days of old, if I had
some packages I wanted shipped off to Europe or somewhere else,
I'd mark them with my seal, wouldn't I? Put my seal on them boxes. Brian, if you had some boxes
in the same shipment as mine, they were the same identical
boxes as mine, you'd mark them with your seal. Maybe Brian has
some boxes and he marks them with his seal. And we all put
them in the same ship. And off they go over to Europe
or to wherever they're going to go, right? And when they get
there, they know that my property is mine because of my seal. Brian,
your property is yours because of your seal. And Brian, your
property is yours because of your seal, too. And all our seals
are different. But that marks it as your property.
And that seal of mine marks it as my property. No one else's, right? By people, you see these companies
on their boxes, they put seals, that product is by them. It'll
change the way you look at seals now. Because that box is, that's
a seal on that box, a picture, identifying that that is the
property of that company. They are the ones who manufactured
it, right? Until it's purchased by someone else and sold in the
store. And that property cannot be mistaken
for someone else's property. Think of it, even the laundry
products, one's tied and one's all, right? They don't want their
products being mistaken for another product. They all put a bunch
of white bottles up there or whatever color bottles up there,
we wouldn't know what kind of product, right? We'd wonder why
that white bottle is worth more than that white bottle. Well,
maybe it's the brand, right? That's what the brand identifies. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 1. We're going to look at just a few scriptures here,
and we'll be done. We are sealed, beloved. We are
marked by the Holy Spirit of God. We are marked by Him. We're His. We are God's private
property. And you know what? He made us, He bought us, and He sealed us,
beloved. He created us, God purchased
us with His precious blood, God the Son, and we are marked and
sealed by the Holy Spirit of God. This is wonderful news.
And we're sealed until the day of redemption, beloved. That
means we're sealed as belonging to God in a very special manner. Look at this in Ephesians chapter
1 verses 13 and 14. In whom ye also trusted, after
that ye heard the word of truth, there's the gospel being preached,
the gospel of your salvation, right? It saved us, Christ saved
us. In whom also after you believed you were sealed, marked with that Holy Spirit of promise.
who is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession under the praise of his glory." So consider this again. You are
God's private property. That's amazing, isn't it? That's
comforting. He won't lose any of his property.
He bought it. He created it. He bought it. And now he's marked it. Look
in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 30, a couple chapters over. It
says it again. Engrave not the Holy Spirit of
God, whereby you are sealed until the day of redemption. Marked
until the day of redemption. One more portion, look at 2 Corinthians
1.18-22. This is wonderful truth. Do you know that this is a seal
that no one can break? Now, the Romans, they used to
send letters, and they'd seal it. The emperor would have a
seal, or a general would have a seal, and that seal could be
broken open, right? Then they'd read the letter.
This seal will never be broken. There's no power in the world
that can take this seal away. No power in the world. None at
all. No one can take away this seal.
We're marked as his own. Look at this, 2nd Corinthians
chapter 1 verses 18 to 22. But as God is true, our word
toward you was not yea and nay, for the Son of God, Jesus Christ,
who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and
Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the
promises of God in him are yea, and in him amen, unto the glory
of God by us. Now he which establishes us,
he's the one who establishes us, he's the one who keeps us,
with you in Christ hath anointed us is God, who hath also sealed
us, marked us. Marked by God is his property. and given the earnest of the
Spirit in our hearts. So a sinner quickened by the
Holy Spirit of God and awakened to see our guilty state, and
led to seek salvation in the atoning death of Christ, is a
sinner sealed by God and marked by Him as his personal property. Chosen in Christ by the Father,
redeemed and purchased by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. And this is the
reason, what we've looked at today, these are the reasons
that a true believer in Christ can never perish. Because the
scriptures we have looked at today, we've seen that it's impossible
that true believers can fall away. We've seen that, haven't
we, through the scriptures? Because of our relationship,
think of this. To God the Father, to God the
Son, and to God the Holy Spirit, the three persons of the Trinity,
the Godhead, they're the ones who keep us. So therefore, true
believers can never fall away. What do we say? Glory be to God. Amen and amen.