In 2 Timothy chapter 3, the Apostle
Paul gives us a solemn word of warning. This know also that in the last
days, folks have written books debating when those days are. The Apostle John writing by the
Holy Spirit tells us this is the last time. The last days
of these present days since the coming of our Redeemer between
His first advent and His second, the whole of the gospel age.
In the last days, perilous times. What a strong word. Not just
dangerous, perilous times. Perilous times. The kind of danger
that strikes terror in your soul if you've got enough sense to
perceive it. Perilous times shall come. Well, what are those perilous
times, Paul? They're times when men shall
be lovers of their own selves. Self-centered fellows. Covetous. Boasters. Proud. blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false
accusers, incontinent, like the horse leech ever crying, give,
give, never have enough, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
traitors, heady, high-minded, Lovers of pleasure more than
lovers of God. Now don't fail to understand
who he's talking about. He's not talking about the hookers
and the drunks, the pimps and the pushers. He's not talking
about dope heads and murderers. He's not talking about folks
down at the prison house. He's not talking about folks
out in the gutter. He's talking about folks sitting
on the front row of First Baptist Church or Grace Baptist Church. Well, how do you know that? Read
on. Having a form of godliness. Oh, love religion. Love it. Love it. Wouldn't miss church
service for anything. Love it. Having a form of godliness. But there's a problem. Denying
the gospel of God. Pastor, my Bible says, denying
the power thereof, what do you think is the power of godliness?
Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because
it is the power of God unto salvation. Religious as all get out, but
hate God with every fiber of their being. Religious as they
can be, but lovers of self and enemies to the cross of Christ.
Having a form of godliness doesn't matter what form it takes, but
denying the power thereof, denying the gospel of God's free grace. Well, what do you do with such
people? Stay out of their way. From such, turn away. For of
this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive
silly women laden with sin. Well, I'll save my comments on
that for another day. Led away with diver's lust. Ever learning, ever learning,
but never able to get a handle on anything. The doctrine changes
as often as most of us change shirts. Oh, I discovered something. Look what I found. Look here
what I found. Discovered something ever learning,
ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth. Somebody asked me, how can you
be so bold, so dogmatic, so insistent? What if your doctrine changes?
Then my doctrine ain't going to change. Hadn't changed in
35 years, ain't going to change now. How can you be so sure of that?
Because I ain't looking for anything. I've come to the knowledge of
the truth. The truth. The truth. I have lots of questions
about lots of things, but I leave my questions back there under
the study. I come out here to preach the gospel to you. I've
come to tell you what I know to be true. to deliver to you
that which God has taught me by the experience of His grace,
that which God has inscribed upon my heart by the finger of
His Spirit, that which He has burned into my soul. I haven't
offered you something to think about. I'm declaring to you what
you must believe, the truth. Read on. Verse 8. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood
Moses, so do these also resist the truth. I love the way God
wrote his word. They resist it. That's all they
do. They hate it. They stand in the way of it,
but it'll just mow them down. These also resist the truth,
men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. Watch this. But they shall proceed no further.
All they can do is act. All they can do is talk. They're
not going to hinder God's purpose. They're not going to hinder God's
cause. They're not going to destroy God's church and kingdom. In
fact, God will use them for the advancement of truth. He said
in 1 Corinthians 11, 19, heresies also must come. They must come
that they which are perfect may be made manifest so that God's
elect might stand out from the crowd. Because God's elect will
not be swept aside with the tide of religious nonsense and the
heresies of this day or any other. Now down in verse 13. Evil men and seducers shall wax
worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. And it's talking
to James about preachers. He's talking about preachers,
evil men, seducers, deceiving and being deceived. Well, what
do we do in the face of such things? What does this church
do in the face of such things? What do we do in this day and
age when the whole religious world is exactly as it was in
the days of our Lord turned thumbs down on the gospel we preach?
What do we do? What do you do? Continue thou
in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured
of. Don't let anything affect you. Don't give ear to anything contrary
to the gospel God's taught you. Don't give ear to it. Pay no
attention to it. Don't listen to it. Don't give
it any credibility. Continue! and the things you've
learned. Are you dead certain sure that
this gospel of God's grace is the truth? Are you dead certain
sure? Then you continue in it, knowing
of whom thou hast learned them. Who'd you learn it from? Who did you learn it from? If God taught you, you will continue
in it. If all you've got is what I've
taught you, it ain't worth the time of day. No matter how true
it is. From whom did you learn these
things? Alright, now look at verse 16. Paul says to Timothy, You've
been blessed far greater than most men. From a child, you've
known the scriptures. Your mama and your grandmama
taught you these things. They're able to make you wise
into salvation. He says, all scripture is given
by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof,
correction, instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect,
complete, throughly furnished unto all good works. Now remember,
verses 16 and 17 are connected with verse 1. In these perilous
times, do you good to find out what
this book says. Stay in it. Do you good. to find out what God has revealed
in his word. And with this, you shall be thoroughly
furnished, prepared unto all good works, prepared to serve
God in this wicked, perverse generation. Without question,
we are living in perilous times. Blasphemers abound everywhere.
The church heaps to itself teachers having itching ears. About everybody we know, you
and me, about everybody in your family as well as mine, has a
form of godliness. Most everybody in Danville, Kentucky
has been saved two or three times since I've been here. They've
got a form of godliness, a form of godliness. but don't have
the slightest idea of what the gospel of God's grace is, denying
the power of it. Messengers of Satan transform
themselves into angels of light, stand up behind pulpits on Sunday
morning, and promote righteousness all the time. I don't suggest
that Satan's messengers have nothing to do with the strip
joints and the bars Goat pens and all that. But I'm dead sure
of this. Satan's messengers aren't found
in those places. They're found standing right
where I'm standing right now. With a Bible in their hand, teaching
men how to do good. How to do good. Preaching righteousness. Not God's righteousness. Yours. Yours. Teaching men how to go
to hell. by trying to earn heaven through
what they do. The gospel of God's free and
sovereign grace is opposed on all sides by all the world, religious
and secular, opposed by those in the pulpits and in the seminaries,
by those in the seats of legislature, and by those in the halls of
education. The gospel of God's grace is
laughed at, scorned, derided, mocked, and despised on all sides. There's no question about those
things. In such times as these, the responsibilities of a gospel
preacher are excruciatingly heavy. Thirty years ago, I used to talk
about those passages where the prophet would say, the burden
of the word of the Lord. I think I'm beginning to learn
what he was talking about. It is my responsibility as your
pastor, as God's servant, to do what I can to stop the mouths
of religious gainsayers and to rescue perishing sinners from
their pernicious lives. And the way to do it is to simply
unceasingly preach sound doctrine. And this thing's not an optional
thing. No pastor is faithful to his
calling. No pastor. as faithful to his
charge and responsibility as God's messenger to men, who does
not faithfully instruct men and women in sound doctrine and do
so with such distinct clarity and unmistakable terms that he
cannot be misunderstood. Sound doctrine is essential.
It is essential both to the salvation of sinners and to your edification,
stability, and comfort in these perilous times in the knowledge
of Christ. It is impossible for sinners
to be saved apart from sound doctrine, and it is impossible
for believers to walk with comfort, confidence, and assurance in
this world, growing in the faith and knowledge of Christ without
sound doctrine. Look in 1 Timothy chapter 4.
Turn back a few pages. Verse 16. Paul says, Timothy, take heed
to thyself. Let's forget Brother Timothy.
Don Fortner, take heed to yourself. Pay attention to what you're
doing and to the doctrine. Don't ever
neglect it. Continue in them. For in doing
this, thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. That sounds like it's pretty
important. Pretty important. Tonight, we're going back to
fundamentals, back to basics. I don't often have anything new
or profound to say. I'll leave that to other fellows.
But tonight, everything will be basic, fundamental, elementary,
essential, foundational gospel truth. I want to set before you
the foundation doctrine of Holy Scripture, the fundamentals,
the essentials of faith. Now, when you think about the
fundamentals, immediately, if your mind is like mine, you think
of the inspiration of the Bible, the creation of the world, the
deity, and the virgin birth of Christ. But those really aren't
the issues of sound doctrine. As a matter of fact, those things
are not issues at all in the kingdom of God. They're not issues
at all. There's no such thing as a believer
who doesn't understand that we hold here the word of God. There's
no such thing as a child of God, a Christian, who believes in
evolution. There's no such thing. There's
no such thing as a child of God, a Christian, who denies that
Jesus Christ is the virgin-born Son of God. Those things are
not issues. The fact is, why should we argue
about the inspiration of scriptures? Some years ago, The seminary
at Louisville was going through its usual tussle. And they had
a big convention meeting down in Dallas, I think it was. Y'all
might remember the newspapers just constantly were having interviews
and preachers all over town. They were trying to decide whether
we're going to, as good Baptist folks, believe in the inspiration
of God, the total inspiration of God's word, or what parts
we're going to accept as God's Word, because we have to think
through these things, you know. We have to study them out. We
have to be reasonable. We have to appear before men
as thinking men. And one of the fellows right
down the road here, I never will forget it. I read what he had
to say in the paper. He's not there anymore. You don't have
to worry about who he is. He said, well, I don't know what
the fuss is all about. Why don't we forget these doctrinal
things and just win souls for Jesus? What stupidity. What utter stupidity. But the
fact is, why should we argue about the inspiration scriptures?
if we're not going to believe and preach what the book says.
What difference does it make whether this is the Word of God
or not if you don't pay attention to it? I sat in a Baptist church
a few years ago that was going to get rid of a fellow who claimed
to believe God's grace. And they already get in a debate,
argued and debated. And finally a fellow got up and
held up the church constitution and said, I don't care what that
book says, this is what we believe. And that's just about where most
folks are. Pay no attention to the Word of God. Oh, fight! I mean fight! Divide from family,
divide churches, start a new denomination over whether or
not we believe in this place in the Bible, and then ignore
what it says? Why argue about the Bible account
of creation? Why even argue about it? Why
fuss about that? The vast majority of folks I
know in the religious world who would fight to get creation taught
in the schools. Now don't misunderstand me. We
believe this Word of God. We understand God made the heavens
and the earth. We know that. We recognize that.
But why argue about it? These fellows will fight tooth
and toenail. to get folks to teach creation in our public
schools, and they ought to. They ought not teach a lie. But
they'll fight tooth and toenail to do it. All the while believing
in a far worse form of evolution. The whole religious world believes
and preaches evolution all the time. Spiritual evolution. Their doctrine is God sort of
starts the ball rolling in this thing of salvation. He gives
you a nudge in the right direction, and then he stands back and leaves
you alone. I prefer Darwinian evolution to Arminian evolution.
Why argue about the deity of Christ? Why argue about whether
or not he's the virgin born son of God? If we're willing to embrace
a doctrine that makes Jesus Christ a failure, robs him of his glory,
and frustrates the purpose of his incarnation. And you might
be thinking, well, Pastor, if these aren't the fundamentals,
what on earth is? Let me give it to you. I'm going
to give it to you in seven irrefutable statements. You can take this
tape when I get done. Give it to anybody you want to.
I defy anybody, anybody, anywhere to give any gainsaying scripture
against what I've got to say tonight. Anybody. Seven irrefutable
statements, or if you prefer, A message for perilous times
indeed. Number one, either God Almighty is totally,
absolutely, universally sovereign in all things and all times,
over all things and with all things, or nothing is really
certain. One of the two. Either he's totally
sovereign or nothing's really certain. No word from God can
be believed. No prophecy can be believed. Either he is totally sovereign
over everything or he doesn't really control anything. Those are the options. Those
are the options. Now we know what the book says.
The book says our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever
he hath pleased. The book says I am the Lord.
I will do all my pleasure. My counsel shall stand. The book
declares plainly, our God rules in heaven above, in the earth
beneath, and in all deep places under the earth. Now when we
say that God is sovereign, We're simply saying, God Almighty rules
everything. Folks object to that. All right,
let's consider their alternative. If you could endure the horrid
thought for a minute, let's suppose God is not suffering. Let's just
make the supposition. Let's just suppose that God doesn't
really rule everything. then something rules Him. If God doesn't control everything,
something controls Him. If God doesn't govern everything,
something governs God. If God is not totally, absolutely,
universally sovereign, then it must be concluded that faith
in God is nothing more than throwing a corn over your shoulder into
a wishing well and hoping everything turns out like you want it to.
Faith in God is nothing more than rubbing a rabbit's foot.
It's no wonder the whole world around us wears crosses and religious
paraphernalia and good luck charms and all that
worshiping Jesus. If God's not sovereign, you can't
believe any promise He says. If He's not sovereign, you're
believing His promises as foolishness. I'm talking about staking your
soul on it. Pastor, how can you say that? Let me see if I can
illustrate. You folks will bear me record. I'm a fairly dependable
fellow. If I tell you I'm going to do something, you don't need
to call and check up on it. It's going to be done, unless
I forget. Shelby left me one thing to carry
over here tonight, put it at my feet on the footstool, and
I walked over here and forgot it. But if I think of it, if
I think of it, I'll do it. You can bank on it. I write notes.
But, man, there are things I can't do. I try best I can, but I can't
control what happens. Can't control them. Things happen
out of my control. Well, old Fortney can't depend
on him for nothing. No, you really can't. You really
can't. Because he can't control anything.
Can't control anything. If that's what you want for a
God, go ahead and take what you can get out of Him. But I'm telling
you such a God is useless. Nothing but a rabbit's foot God.
Nothing but the idolatrous figment of man's imagination. If God
is not sovereign, you can argue all you want to about prophecy,
none of it can be believed. How can you be certain things
are going to come to pass? God said it's going to come to pass if
He doesn't control everything. No word in this book can be believed,
not really. I'm talking about flat, test
your soul, Lord, and say, this is coming to pass. Unless God
rules everything. The fact is, our God is sovereign
in creation. He made all things for Himself.
Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. All things are of
God. Is that Bible? All things for
of Him, through Him, and to Him are all things to whom be glory
forever. Everything originates from Him.
Everything's brought to pass by Him. Everything going back
to Him for His praise. He's sovereign in creation and
sovereign in providence, and He is most distinctly revealed
as that one who is sovereign in all the saving operations
of His grace. He says, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. Oh, I can't stand that. Take
it up with God. Take it up with God. Either God
Almighty is totally sovereign, or there's no such thing as God.
Either He's totally sovereign, rules everywhere, rules everything,
rules everybody, controls everything, absolutely! In heaven, earth,
and hell. Or God is just a notion. No God at all. Number two, all men and women by nature are
totally depraved, spiritually dead. Either that or that Adam
and Eve thing really is just a myth. Nothing really happened in the
garden. They're no real. They're nothing
really to be believed. They're just one of them fables
talked about this morning. But the garden's real. Adam and
Eve were real. Adam was a federal head and representative. And when Adam sinned, he died,
and we died in him. The Scripture declares, wherefore,
as by one man's sin entered into the world, and death by sin.
And so all have sin. dead. Now, I hear these fellows
who try to talk out both sides of their mouths. And it always,
when a fellow tries to talk out both sides of his mouth, he gets
kind of lockjawed towards works and free will. But they want
to make the gospel palatable to rebels. And they say, well,
now, when we say the Bible teaches man's total depravity, we don't
mean man's as bad as he can be. Oh, you don't. Oh yeah, you're
just as bad as you can be. God just won't let you act as
bad as you are. Read what the book says about
your heart. Read what the book says. Somebody this past week,
a friend of mine, somebody said something to him about me and
some horrid things. And he was upset and I said,
oh, don't pay attention to it. He doesn't even know. He doesn't
even know. If he knew, then he'd have something
to talk about. He didn't even know. You see, the heart is evil
above all things. Desperately wicked. What you
read in the newspaper that shocks you comes right out of your heart. yours and mine, that no evil
on the earth ever perpetrated by any vile, base, obnoxious
criminal that's not in us by nature. Death passed upon all men, for
all have sinned. What does it mean when we say
that man is spiritually dead? Well, this is what the book says
about it. The Word of God says a man can't see the Kingdom of
God. Can't see it. Can't see it. That's
not talking about can't see it with his physical eyes. Nobody
can see what's spiritual with physical eyes. He can't perceive
it. Talk to him about it all you
want to, he can't see it. He can see religion, he can't
see the Kingdom of God. He can see Baptist doctrine or
Pentecostal doctrine or Catholic doctrine, but he can't see the
Kingdom of God. He cannot understand the things of God. Can't understand
them. You'd come nearer being able
to teach a rooster how to multiply and divide than teach a man anything
spiritual. Can't be done. Can't be done. Well, I know folks can teach
them. No, you don't. I can teach you how to be religious.
I can't teach you anything spiritual. I can teach you how to start
acting different. I can't teach you anything spiritual. I can
teach you how to wear different clothes and comb your hair different.
I can't teach you anything spiritual. Well, if that's not spiritual,
what is? I told you. I told you. The natural man cannot
understand the things of God. The natural man can't do anything
pleasing God. Neither in the flesh can not
please God. Can't do it. Now preacher, you
know it just stands for reason that if a man devotes himself
to religious work and doing good and philanthropy and sacrifice
and devotion and he's a good man and he doesn't ever do things
he wants to do, you just know that stands for reason. God's
got to care for something. I told you, the natural man understandeth
not the things of God. He can't do anything pleasing
to God. Natural man can't even hear the
Word of God. Our Lord said so, you cannot hear My Word. You
can't hear it? Oh, you can hear it without our
ear, but you can't hear it. He can't receive the Spirit and
truth of God. The world cannot receive the
Spirit of God. The world cannot receive the truth of God. The
natural man cannot come to the Son of God. I just read it. Man
cannot call Christ Lord. Can't do it. Now you turn on
your television night when you go home, and you'll hear all
kinds of funny-looking characters. I mean funny-looking characters.
Wow! Those gals on those religious
television shows, they are... I wouldn't want to turn the lights
out while one was in the room. They are funny-looking characters.
But you listen to them. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord. Oh, Jesus is Lord. Everybody says Jesus is Lord.
Nobody can call Him Lord. The difference, buddy, is that
those who call Him Lord worship Him as Lord. Natural man can't
do it. Religious folks talk it. The
natural man can't worship Him. Believers worship Jesus Christ
as Lord. They call Him Lord. The natural
man cannot believe on the Son of God. The scripture says this. Listen.
You can look at it later. John 12, verse 39. Therefore,
they could not believe. They could not believe. They
could not believe. They could not believe because
Isaiah said, He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their
heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand
with their heart, nor be converted, and I should heal them. God Almighty
sent to this race through the sin and fall of our father Adam
such spiritual death that the eyes are blind, the heart is
hard, the ears are deaf, and they cannot convert or be converted
but by omnipotent grace. Disciples heard our Lord preaching
about salvation, talking to that rich young ruler, and they said,
well, if He can't be saved, who can be saved? And our Lord said,
with men, it's impossible. But I ain't given up on you yet,
because with God, all things are possible. Number three, either
God Almighty chose to save some from eternity, predestine some
to everlasting life and salvation in Christ, or He didn't. And salvation, the salvation
of any man, is totally a matter of uncertainty. Either the salvation of the sinner
is sure, flat, dead sure, or it ain't. Does that make sense? Give me another alternative if
you can. Either it is absolutely certain that there is a people
whose names were inscribed by the finger of God in the Book
of Life of the Lamb before the foundation of the world, who
shall at last stand robed in the righteousness of Christ,
washed in His blood, without spot, holy and unblameable, without
blemish in the presence of God Almighty. Either they shall certainly
do so, or nobody shall certainly be saved. I'll tell you a cute story. Some
of you have heard it before. Brother Todd Nabitz, his sister,
Susan, when she was in school at Ashland Community College
there, they were studying the Reformation period literature.
And she was taking a little flack from fellow students. And this
professor got wind of it, and he kind of liked Susan, who wouldn't.
And one day he came to school, brought a Bible with him. He
said, now, you all know I don't believe this book, but have read
it. Have read it. And he said, I'm going to tell
you something. He said, this book teaches what people call
Calvinism. It teaches. And I'll tell you
something else. He said, I don't believe it,
but I'd heapsite rather be a Calvinist and know I was going to hell
than be an Armenian and not know where in the hell I was going. This religious world doesn't
know beans about anything because they deny certainty. To deny
elections is to deny certainty. To deny predestination is to
deny certainty. To deny God's sovereignty is
to deny certainty. Making everything to hinge upon
the roll of the dice. The lot passed into the lap. Focus or the size of the sun,
shape of the sun or the moon, whatever they call that stuff.
But the fact is, the book says the lot is cast into the lap,
and the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Wow! You mean God's sovereignty and
God's rule of the universe for the saving of His elect is so
absolute that when a fellow stands down at the casino and rolls those dice, and they
bank against the side of that crap table, God's already determined
from eternity what number is going to come up. Oh, yeah. Oh,
yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, you mean God's
interested in gambling? No. He's interested in you. And He can't absolutely secure
your salvation if He doesn't control everything. Oh, no wonder
Paul said, we're bound to give thanks always to God for you,
brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning
chosen you to salvation. He predestined you unto the adoption
of sons. He works all things after the
counsel of His own will, according to His own good pleasure, for
the glory of His own name. Fourthly, and I'll come back
to this, Lord willing, another day. We come to this matter of Christ's
death. And this is where the rubber
hits the road. If there's any point at which
many are going to compromise the gospel, and they do it everywhere,
even those who claim to believe it, it will be at the point where
the world most viciously attacks the gospel. And that is with
the particular effectual redemption accomplished by Christ, limited
atonement. Now, you have these choices.
Either Jesus Christ, accomplished the redemption of his people
at Calvary, and put away their sins by the sacrifice of himself,
or his death is as meaningless as the death of any man martyred
as an example for a good cause." Either he accomplished something,
or he just gave you an example. Either he did what he came to
do, or he's a miserable failure. Either he, by the sacrifice of
his self, has satisfied the justice of God and put away sin, accomplishing
redemption, or when he came finally to the end, as someone once said
years ago, he hung his head on a postless chest and died. Not God Almighty. Oh no, but
rather He, with the full vigor of omnipotence, after suffering
all the horrid wrath of God, cried with a loud voice, it is
finished! And then, reverently, He said,
Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit, and He breathed out his life in sovereign
majesty and bows to the God whose will he had done. What does the book say? Now,
once in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. With His stripes, we are healed. What does the book say? The Lord
Jesus came here to save His people from their sins. And when He
had finished the work, He said, it's finished. When He had by
Himself purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the
majesty on high, because His work was finished. And the Father
accepted His work. All right, number five. Salvation
is either wrought in the hearts of dead sinners by the irresistible
power and omnipotent grace of God the Holy Spirit. Are there no hope for anybody? Dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. Lazarus has been in the tomb
for four days. He's dead. Weep all you want to, he's still
dead. Bewail all you can, he's still
dead. Entice him with everything you can think of, he's still
dead. Pick him up and shake him around, he's still dead. Put
him under water, he's still dead. Perfume him, he's still dead.
Put a funny looking religious suit on him, he's still dead.
What will wake Lazarus from the dead? Nothing! The voice of the
Son of God crying, Lazarus, come forth. Now get out of the way. Lazarus is alive. And that no other hope for the
souls of men. The reason I don't play games
with you and your children, the reason I don't jump on every
chance to talk somebody into a profession of faith, Tell them
to wait on God. Wait on God. Wait on God. I get calls all the time. Folks
ask me, well, my son's real... I believe he's under real conviction.
How old's your son? He's three. I kind of doubt it. Your son just heard about hell
and he's scared to death of it. My boys, he's real concerned
about his soul. He's just terrified. How old?
What makes you think they're concerned about their soul? What
you do is take your sons and daughters to the house of God.
Set them under the sound of the gospel. Commit them to God's
hands. And pray for God to speak to
their dead souls. And if God Almighty gives them
life, Lindsay, you won't have to tell them they got it. You want to tell him? Preacher, tell me what to do.
Hang on. Let's see what God does. Number six, either all of God's elect, every
believing sinner shall be kept infallibly secure by the power
of God's omnipotent grace. Are none of us are safe? Salvation is not sure of anybody.
Either Christ gives eternal life to men and women and declares
they shall never perish, or the Lord Jesus sort of does a little
something and hopes you can make it through. No alternative. Can you give
me another option? I said these things are irrefutable.
God keeps us till the river rolls its waters at our feet and bears
us safely over where our Savior we shall meet, our nothing sure
and our hopes of vain delusion.