The title of the lesson I've
chosen today is, It Shall Be Forever, and it's taken from
verse 14 in Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Solomon said, I know that whatsoever
God doeth, it shall be forever. So we know that what God even
purposes, He shall bring to pass in His time. precisely. He has all power. He's in control. Nothing happens without Him. But whatever God does, it shall
be forever. So when God has purposed in Christ
to have a people, when He chose them in Christ, He shall have
those people in His time on earth. Nothing can be put to God's purpose. What God has purposed is sure
to pass, sure to come. Nothing can be taken away from
it. What God does is forever. Even in His purpose, it will
come to pass in God's time. And it is because of God. God
doeth it. He who is in control does it
Himself. And when God purposed to have
a people, when He chooses and when He enables them to be born
into this world, He gives them life. Those people that He purposed
to have in His time, He'll call them by His grace and reveal
His Son in them. And He'll keep them by His power. and He'll make them like unto
Christ in eternity, won't He? They shall be like Him and with
Him forever. He'll still be their Lord and
Savior. They'll still bow to Him and
look to Him out of praise and glory, won't they? But they'll
be like Him, like Him. So we can be sure of this thing. Salvation is of God and it's
of the Lord. Men has nothing to do with the
salvation of God. Men don't help God do anything. Everything has come about and
going about as God has already prescribed it to do, and it's
gone to. Everything is exactly like it
was supposed to be. God is in charge. God allows
the evil for His own glory, don't He? And He creates life in people
to honor Him and to glorify Him and for the benefit of His people,
the ones He's purposed to have. So salvation is of God. We don't have anything to do
with it. We don't have no franchise on
it, do we? No. God does what He will with whom
He will when He will. Jonah said, I will sacrifice
unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have
vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. You remember when Jonah was to
go down to Nineveh and preach the gospel? He got on board a
ship and he aborted it for Joppa, wasn't it? And he didn't do anything
that God didn't allow him to do. You know that? But God was
going to have him to preach the gospel to his sheep. And he preached
the gospel. God brought him to preach the
gospel. God was in charge. Jonah wasn't in charge. God was. All things work together for
good, don't it? All things. Everything. Everything
that happened to Jonah. Everything that Jonah did works
together for God's good, don't it? God's glory. That shows us
that no matter what Jonah determined to do, he was going to do what
God required him to do, what God had purposed for him to do.
He was to go down and preach the gospel, and that's exactly
what he did. When God was pleased to bring
him down, wasn't he? He went down. So we see that
salvation is of God, of God alone. It's God that purposed it. It's God that works it in the
hearts of His sheep. It's God that keeps His people
by His power and by His grace. And it's God that shall change
them and make them like His Son in glory eternally, everlasting. Isaiah 45, 17 says, So salvation
is of God alone. It's the work of God. It's an
everlasting salvation. Everything God does is eternal. What God does is forever, right? It's forever. Salvation. It's an everlasting salvation. And Isaiah 45, 17 said, But Israel
shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. God's
chosen, God's elect, whoever He purposed to have, Israel,
shall be saved in the Lord. They'll be saved. They'll be
justified by the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
in time, they shall be made like Him. Every one. Every one of
them. Every one of God's church. Israel
shall be saved with an everlasting salvation. Everlasting is eternal. That's it. You shall not be ashamed
nor confounded, world without end. See that? Shall not be ashamed
nor confounded. And in this life, God's people
who truly know Christ in their heart is not ashamed to confess
Christ. They gladly confess Him. They
rejoice in Him. Their joy is in telling about
He whom they love, whom they have faith in. That's their joy.
That salvation that He puts in the hearts of His people, He
gives them the heart and places in that heart an eternal faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Their salvation is in Christ.
They look to the time that they shall be with Him forever. God doesn't halfway do anything.
He thoroughly does it. They shall be with Him. Hebrews
5 and 9 says, Being made perfect, He became. a perfect representative,
a perfect substitute before God on man's behalf to represent
them in His life and to die in their room instead. And He perfectly
satisfies God in that regard and they are accepted in Him. When they are given faith, they
don't look to their faith. They look to Christ and they
rest right there. In being made perfect, he became
the author of eternal salvation. That doesn't mean it became eternal
salvation. This salvation was planned in
eternity past before the foundation of the world. And in God's time,
when it pleased God, He sent forth His Son, made of a woman,
made under the law to redeem them that were under the law,
that you might receive the adoption of sons. So it's eternal. He became the author of that
eternal salvation. He stood as a lamb slain in God's
time. He sent Him forth. He became
a man to represent His people and to die for them. And they
shall never be lost. What He has done is eternal. It is forever. God purposed it.
The Son purchased it. It has been purchased, right? By the blood of Christ. That
shall never be lost. Whoever it is. Whoever it is. There is not a one of them going
to be lost. They'll be with Him forever.
John 10, 29 says, My Father which gave them Me is greater than
all, and no man is able to pluck Him out of My Father's hand.
See that? All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me. In Him that the Father giveth
Me, I will in no wise cast out. He said, I came down from heaven
not to do my will individually or separately from my Father,
but to do the Father's will. And that's to become a man. See
that? And to be obedient to Him on men's behalf. And to do for
them what they could not do. And to die for them. You see
that? And put away their sin that they would be justified
before God. Accept it in me. So My Father
which gave them Me, He is greater than all, and no man is able
to pluck them out of his hands." So salvation is eternal, ain't
it? It's eternal, that's it. No man,
that's it. Salvation is a real union with
the Lord Jesus Christ, ain't it? All of those whom God purposed
to have, He will work grace in their heart, they will come to
a true heart knowledge of who they are in the light of God,
and they'll see Christ for who He is as their substitute, and
they will gladly rest and bow to Him, won't they? Gladly. So
salvation is a real union with Jesus Christ. He has made us
one with the Father. I can't explain that, can you?
We are accepted in the Beloved as God accepts His only begotten
Son, His own Son. Can you understand that? We are
accepted in Him perfectly and eternally, aren't we? We are accepted. We are accepted
in Him when God sees us in Christ, don't He? And we are accepted. We're members of His body, bone
of His bone, flesh of His flesh, ain't we? Flesh of His flesh.
All that He done, He done as our substitute. You see that?
When He came into this world, all that He done, He did as our
substitute. And we're members of Him. We're
so closely knit to Him that we can't explain it, ain't we? We're spiritual children of God. Can you understand? I can't.
Spiritual children of God. We're accepted in His Son with
full acceptance, you see. Spiritual children of God. We are members of His body, flesh
of His flesh, bone of His bone. The Church. Every member in that
church which is a member of God is members of the body of Christ,
ain't it? We're in that body. We're united
to God. We can't be severed. I can't say what I want to say
even. We can't be severed from Him.
We're bone of His bone. We're flesh of His flesh. In
just as sure as He is, we shall be. And where He is, we shall
be. We're members of that mystical
body, that mystical union, that spiritual body. Members of His
body. We're spiritual members of the
church, the body of Christ. And He's the head of it. All
those who are members of His body, they are directed to, and
looked to, and have faith in, and they're settled in the Head. See that? The Head. He's in control. He's above everybody
else. He has all power. He saved His
people. They look to Him. They know that
they are accepted in Him. And they shall be with Him in
glory eternally. They know that, don't they? There is not a doubt in my mind
that every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, by the grace and
power of God, shall be with Him in glory. They are members of
His body. The true church. The spiritual
church. The church of the heart. That
mystical union, that spiritual body, see that? Of which He is the Head. So eternal
life. This is a real oneness, ain't
it? With the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of God. He is the Head of the body, the
Church, who is the Beginning, the Firstborn from the dead,
that in all things He might have the preeminence. See that? He's
over all and above all. In all things, He's got the preeminence. We didn't acquire or do anything
to be accepted of God. We didn't. We believed, yes,
but faith is the gift of God. He worked grace in your heart
to believe in His Son, didn't He? And to look to His Son as
our federal head and representative. See that? We have eternal life. We have a real oneness with God
in and through Christ. He said, because I live. How long is He going to live?
He always was, always is, always shall be. He lives forever. There
is a man in glory seated, ain't it? At the right hand of God.
The work of His redemption has been finished of the soul. He will receive the bodies into
glory in His time, won't He? He will. Eternal life. That is a oneness with the Lord
Jesus Christ. And because He lives, we shall
live also. He is eternally alive and His
people are eternally alive in Him. And they will be like Him. Can you imagine Him with a finger
off or a finger broke like that? He don't halfway do anything.
Every member, He don't have no main members. That's a main member
right there. I can't do nothing about that.
But He don't have no main members. They'll be like Him and with
Him forever. That's sure, sure. They are alive in the Lord Jesus
Christ. His body is perfect and complete. Right? It's perfect. They're
not a foot out of joint or a finger out of joint or anything. Everything
is right where He has put it. And it's perfect in Him. And it can't be maimed and it
can't be severed. It's connected eternally. I can't understand that, can
you? I know we shall be with Him forever, We're connected
to Him eternally in the mind and purpose of God and by the
grace of God through Christ right now, ain't we? We shall be with
Him in glory. Perfect and complete in Him. John 17, 22 says, The glory which
thou gavest me I have given them that they may be one. Can you
imagine that? As you and I are one, the Father
and the Son are one, That His people are one. Just as the Son
of God in God is one. That's farther than I can imagine,
ain't you? We're one with God in Christ. And to be one with God in Christ
is to be as God in the Son are one. God the Father, the Son,
the Holy Spirit can't be severed. So we're one with God. in the
Lord Jesus Christ, ain't we? Even as we are one, Christ said,
talking to the Father. Ephesians 2.21 says, whom all
the building is fitly framed together groweth into a holy
temple in the Lord. All the church is fitly framed
together in Christ. It can't be severed. It's God's
church. The true church is God's church.
It's the hearts of God's people. It's God's church. And it can't
be severed from God. It's fitly framed together. He
put it together. Didn't He? He put it together. He purposed it. The Son purchased
it. He applied it. He keeps it. And He makes it
like His Son eternally. Don't He? Yeah, He does. They're
fitly framed together. and it groweth into a holy temple."
The church grows into a holy temple. We know in this flesh
we are not holy, but in Christ the church is holy. The whole
church of God is holy in Christ. It is one in Christ. It is one
with God. If one member of His body could
perish, it would not be complete, would it? We're so truly and
really one with Christ that not so much as a member can ever
perish, not a member of His body can ever perish. As long as our
head is safe, the members of that body is safe. The head's
in control. The members are connected to
Him eternally. Matthew 5.48 says, Be ye therefore
perfect, even as thy Father which is in heaven is perfect. He tells
us to be that, don't we? We are in Christ. You have got
to be perfect. Don't you? In Christ you are
perfect before God. There is not anything against
you if you are in Christ. If there is anything against
you, then you are not in Christ. Do you see that? If anything is against us, everything
is against us, right? We don't just commit one sin
at heart or deed or whatever. We are sin by nature, aren't
we? But in Christ we are perfect. And we shall be perfect, both
body and soul, right? Both body and spirit. We are
complete in Him. Complete. When God looks upon
you in Christ, you don't look upon you outside of Christ. If
Christ died for you, did He? Does He? If He purposed you,
you are complete. Perfect. I can't imagine that. One with the Father. As you and
I are one, so are my people. One with the Father. Complete. I and my Father are one, so are
you and me. That's what Christ said. So we being many, many, the church,
are one body, one body, aren't we? We're one in Christ. Every member is fitly framed
together for His glory and His eternal
purpose and for their good. We are one body in Christ. And every member is members one
of another, as Jack talked about, members one of another. God's people are so closely knit
together in Christ, ain't they? We can come together and we can
worship God in Christ. We can talk about things here
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ that people would hate us for,
can't we? And give God all glory. We're
one in Christ. He said, I give unto them eternal
life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. So our salvation is eternally
secure, ain't it? In the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
been accomplished, right? In the mind and purpose of God.
and by the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it shall
be accomplished by the purchase of the body, may it be made like
Christ. It's been accomplished, our salvation
has. It's been preserved by the grace
of God and the power of God, the Holy Spirit. That's it. So
salvation is not in any way attributed to any man on this earth. I don't care who he says he is
or what he does. I'm a preacher. I'm a minister
of the gospel. Is salvation attributed to you
in any way? If it is, you're not no minister
of the gospel. Right? Salvation is not attributed to
man in any way. It's God that does the saving
in it. It's God that purposed it. God
that speaks. It's God that gives you a heart.
It's God that works in that heart. It's God that keeps, and it's
God that will make you infinitely like His Son in His time. We
are by nature dead, ain't we, in trespasses and sins. But by
the Holy Spirit, we've been regenerated by the power of God. We've been
made new creatures in Christ Jesus by the power of God. I'm saved because I came to God. No, no. You came to God because
you were saved. See, we by nature get everything
backwards, don't we? You wouldn't have come to Him
if you hadn't have been. We're dead by nature. When God speaks,
you've been spoken to. That's it. He regenerated us. He gave us a new heart. He worked
grace in us. He spoke to us. He brought us
the faith in Christ to despair of ourselves and to look to Christ.
He gave us life. We didn't have anything to do
with it. We're just recipients, aren't we? He made us receive
it. Life and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
it. And every true believer's salvation
is safe and secure in Christ, right? Every true believer of
salvation, he which begun a good work in
you, he will perform that work, won't he? If he ever spoke to
you, if he ever gave you a heart and spoke to it, then he'll keep
you. He'll keep you looking to Christ. When God ever speaks to you or
speaks to me, You don't dare look back at the flesh and say,
I'm saved because I am and I do. No, you're not. You're saved
because God saved you if you're saved, ain't you? And you look
to Christ. You look to Christ as your sin
buyer, don't you? As your leader and your guide
and your representative. And you rejoice in Him. And He paid it all. He paid it
all, didn't He? All to Him I owe. Sin had left
a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. He
paid all my sins, and I see that by God's grace and God's power.
See? All to Him I owe. I owe it all
to Him. He did it. God did it. Christ
paid it. Paul assures us of one thing.
He said, being confident of this one thing, this very thing, that
He which hath begun a good work in you, He will perform it unto
the day of Jesus Christ. It will never be said of God
that He began a work which He could not or was not able to
complete. What God does, that's it. It's
forever. He began a good work. He will
complete it. Every man considers it a shame
if he undertakes to do something and he don't have the ability
or knowledge or the strength to do it, don't he? Yeah, he
considers it a shame because he thought he could do that,
and when he got into it, he sees he can't. So every man, when he undertakes
to do a work, he's compelled to give it up before completion
because he lacked the ability to do it. Right? He didn't have
the skill. He didn't have the wisdom. He
didn't have the power. He didn't have the knowledge.
He didn't have the dedication necessary to get it done, did
he? But it's not possible with God. Whatever God requires, God
has on behalf of His people. Right? Whatever God requires,
He gives to His people and He receives it, don't He? That's
it. It's all of God. It is not possible for the Lord
to be confronted with shame, is it? It is not possible. He has never been a failure.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged, should He have set judgment in
the earth. He said, I have begun a good work in you. He will perform
it unto the day of Jesus Christ. He cannot fail. He cannot fail. So it's not possible
for him to be confronted or him to be brought to shame. He has
never known failure. And he never shall. He's in control. He has all power. He does according
to his will. And what he hath purposed, he
will purchase, won't he? And what he hath purchased, he
will receive into glory, won't he? He will. Salvations of the
Lord. He began with us in eternal election,
didn't he? eternal election. When God elected
the people, He did it eternally, didn't He? I purpose it, I will do it, He
said. When He does something, it's
done. When God elected the people, they were as good as saved in
that regard, right? Because they were sure to be.
He can't fail. And when thousands of years roll
on, His purpose never changes. You know, I think about, as I've
grown up, I've seen so much evil. It's getting so much worse and
worse and worse. You can't see no peace no matter
where you're at hardly, can you? I notice a lot of times when
we're in here, there are people outside spinning up and down
the road and all kinds of noise. It got worse and worse. People
used to, at least, show some respect for the house of God,
didn't they? You don't even have that now. You don't have it. People make fun of you. That's
what they do. Cruel, man. They're cruel. They don't have no interest. But God's in control. God's in
control. Nothing happens without God permitting
it or God working it, does it? Nothing happens. But we get all
aggravated and so on and so forth, which we really shouldn't do
in that regard because we should look to God. He's in control. And He began with His people
and His eternal election. He's in control. And in His time,
He calls them. His purpose never changes. I
purposed it. I bring it to pass. When the
fullest time has come, all that he purposed in Christ to have,
in his time he sent Christ forth to die for them, didn't he? Christ
died for them. He received them back into glory.
He sat down at the right hand of God. He has redeemed them. Ain't he? He redeemed us by his
own substitutionary death, didn't he? His offering for sin. The
atonement of his own Son. He made atonement for us. He
chose us in Christ. He gave us eternal life in Christ.
God sent Him forth in His time. Christ redeemed us. The Holy
Spirit regenerated us. We are kept by the power of God.
And He shall eventually and eternally make us like unto His Son in
His time. His purpose never changes according
to His own holy will. He redeemed us. He made atonement
for us. We went astray as soon as we
were born, didn't we? We were rebels against Him, wasn't
we? But He brought us to life in
His time. He stood by His own purpose of
grace. Whatever He purposed, He shall
do. It's done in that regard. He
graciously preserved those people whom He already called, didn't
He? Didn't He preserve them up to that time? He kept them, didn't
He? And He calls them in His own
time, to the time appointed when He would save them. In the time of His love, He gave
Christ to die for them. And even since the time of His
love that He shed abroad, His love in our hearts, our sins
have been so many, ain't they? And they are. But not in Christ. They've been put away. He has
called us by the power of His grace to reveal His Son in us. He has never failed. He shall
never fail. He will not give up that work.
to which He has been faithful to. Christ didn't give up that
work, did He? He sat down. He's finished that work of the
redemption of the soul, ain't He? And He shall in time come
back and receive a sign unto Himself that where He is, there
we may be. As Noah says, there we shall
be also. So God will complete that which
He's begun. No doubt about it. He'll bring
all of His elect safe into glory in His time. He is precise, exact,
determined time. He is willing. He is able and
willing. He is willing to complete His
work in us. And He will do it. He is wise
enough to do it, ain't He? He is powerful enough to do it.
Everything is in His control. Nothing happens without Him. Can a man ever be lost? Not if
he's in Christ. He can't never be lost. Can God
cease to be God? That's how sure He is. That's
how positive. That's how perfect He is. That's
how eternal He is. That's how ultimately He is.
All things are made by Him and in His control. Nothing is without
Him. Can He cease to be God? If he can't seize to be God,
all that are in Christ, they're just good as there. I'm
telling you. Because they're sure to be. God's purpose is a sure purpose.
Christ's redemption is a sure redemption. God's work is a sure
work. His application of the Spirit
is a sure work. His work in you is a sure work.
in His eternal work with you to make you like His Son.