I want you to open your Bibles
to our text in Philippians 1. I want to sound a note tonight
just as clear as it can possibly be sounded. Philippians 1, verse 6, the scripture
says, being confident of this very thing. Now for centuries men have argued
and debated about the matter of eternal salvation. They've argued that a man, if
he makes a decision, the Baptists have argued that he can never
be lost. Once saved, always saved. Once
in grace, always in grace. The Methodists and the Holiness
and the Pentecostals have argued that a man can make a decision
and claim to be saved, join the Church, and if he goes out in
the world and deserts his profession, that he's going to be lost, that
there's no way that he can be saved. And they argue from Galatians
chapter 5, verse 1 through 4, or verse 4. This is the scripture
that's always used in that argument. It's called falling from grace.
That's what they call it. Some of the Baptists and the
Presbyterians say you can't fall from grace. Some of the other
folks say you can fall from grace. Well, really and truly, all of
them are misusing the scripture if they refer to Galatians 5.4
as having anything to do with an individual losing his salvation.
It has nothing to do with that. Now listen to it, Galatians 5,
verse 1. Paul said to the church at Galatia,
and I remember what's taking place here. Paul is writing to
a church where he formerly preached. He came in here and founded this
church, preached the gospel to these people, and left. And some
false teachers crept in, some old Judaizers, some ceremonialists,
some legalists came in. And they told this congregation,
they said, yes, you believe on Christ, and you rest in Christ,
and you believe he died and was buried and rose again. But in
order to be saved, you have to be circumcised. You have to keep
the law of Moses. You have to obey the Levitical
law. You have to keep the Sabbath day. You have to do all of these
things. And if you don't do these things, then Christ doesn't save
you. And that's what Paul is writing to this church about.
He says, I'm amazed. that you're so soon removed from
the gospel of grace, from the grace of God, him who called
you to the grace of God to another gospel. I'm amazed. O foolish
Galatians, who hath bewitched you? Who hath deceived you? Now,
he says in verse 5, in summing up this book, he tells that church
and those believers, stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ
has made you free. You're free from the Sabbath
day. You're free from the Levitical law. You're free from the circumcision. You're free from the ceremony.
You're free from these things. You're free in Christ. Christ
is our Sabbath. Christ is our redemption. He
is our righteousness. Everything that God requires,
everything that the law requires, everything that justice demands,
everything is met in Christ. We're complete in Him. That's
what it says. So stand in that liberty. Listen, do not be entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Don't get back under that old
Levitical law. Don't get back under those ordinances
and those ceremonies and those rituals. Behold, our Paul is
saying to you that if you be circumcised, Christ will profit
you nothing. What does he mean by that? That
if a man is circumcised, Christ profits him nothing? Oh, no.
Circumcision is a sensible thing. The physicians will tell you
it's a reasonable thing and an intelligent thing. And under
the old law, it was a token. It was an evident token of the
covenant. But what Paul is saying here,
if you submit to any ritual, whether it's circumcision or
Sabbath day, or whether it be baptism or anything, if you submit
to any work as a condition of salvation or acceptance with
God, then Christ is out of the picture. That's what he's saying.
Your salvation is either all in Christ, all out Christ, and
all through Christ, or Christ is nothing. You see what he's
saying? In other words, if I require
you here in order to be require you to tithe. And I say, now
Christ died for us, he's bared and rose again, but now, and
you believe on him, but you must tithe to be accepted. And you
swallow that and try it, Christ profits you nothing. If I say
to you, now Christ died on the cross and you believe on him
and trust him and rest in him, but you must be baptized. You
can't be saved if you're not baptized. And you submit to that,
then you forget Christ. He profits you nothing. That's
what he said. That's exactly what it is. If I say to you,
Christ died on the cross and you trust him and believe on
him, and you believe he's your Savior and his blood cleanseth
you, I don't care how scriptural your language, I don't care how
scriptural your position, you can give Christ 99% and take
1% and he'll profit you nothing. That's exactly right. Now you
listen, this is the truth. If you be circumcised, that's
what he's saying to thee. Behold, I, Paul, the chief apostle, the
writer of scripture, the chosen one of God, is an apostle of
Gentiles. I, Paul, say this to you, dogmatically, if you be
circumcised, as a condition, if you be baptized, if you take
a Lord's table, if you tithe, if you do any blessed work, in
order to be saved, Christ's prophets unite." That's exactly what he
said. That's how strong he is. For
I testify again, listen, I testify again to every man that circumcised,
every man that submits to these teachers, every man that follows
this teaching, he's a debtor to keep the whole of us. It's
how dangerous it is. You say, well, these fellows
come in and say the Church of Christ said baptism is essential
to salvation. It's not going to hurt anybody
to be baptized. You do it, and Paul says you better be ready
to keep the whole law. That's what you better be ready
to do. You better find out what the whole law of God says from
your birth to your death, if you do. If you submit to this
teaching, if you swallow this thing, if you go through any
of these ordinances, I don't care how good they are, If you
go through any of these so-called sacraments or duties or details
in order to add them to the completed work of the Son of God, you are
a desert to keep the whole law, every blessed jot and tittle
of it, or you're going to be damned. It's either all of grace
or all of work, and that's so. Salvation is either 100% grace
or works. It cannot be both. And this is
what men have been trying to do for years. They've been trying
to merge that which God has rent asunder. They've been trying
to put together that which God says cannot exist together. Pure,
free, sovereign grace are man's deeds. That's what he says. That's
clear as he can make it. He said, I say unto you, I testify
again to every one of you. You say, it's nothing, no harm
with keeping the Sabbath day. All right. There's no harm to
it unless you put some credit on it. There's no harm to it
unless you put some condition on it. Unless you'd start demanding
that a man do it in order to have acceptance with God. You
say, no harm in going back and picking up tithing and the ten
percent. Okay, do it if you want to, but I'm simply saying this.
If you do it as a duty, if you do it as a condition, if you
do it as a responsibility toward God in order to gain his favor,
you better go back and pick up the whole law, because you're
trying to be saved by law. And that's really when he brought
in verse 4. Christ is become of no effect. It's as if he hadn't
come and hadn't died and hadn't risen, whoever you are. that find acceptance and justification
before God by law and works, you are fallen from the message
of grace. You're not preaching it anymore.
That's what it's saying. You see that? It's got nothing
to do with an individual's own salvation. It's saying it's the
message of grace, it's the gospel of grace, it's the declaration
of grace. Now, brethren, that's the scripture they use, talking
about falling from grace. Let's go back to our text. Here's
what I'm saying to you tonight, and I'm saying it loud and clear.
I'm not preaching, and I do not believe, the security of Church
members. No sirree, not at all. Judas
was a Church member. Demas was a Church member. Simon
Magus was a baptized Church member, but they perished. I'm not preaching
the security of the professors of religion. I'm not saying that
a man makes a profession of religion and joins a church that he's
saved and eternally saved, he'll never be lost. I'm not preaching
that at all. I'm not preaching the security of preachers or
deacons. I'm not saying because a man holds an office or because
he preaches or because he sings or because he does something
for God that he's secure at all. You say, what are you preaching?
I am preaching what the Word of God declares, that his sheep
are secure. His sheep. He chose them, he
died for them, in time he caused them, he sustains them, and he
will perfect them. That's exactly what I'm preaching.
I'm saying that he or she... Now, look at our text again.
It says here, I'm confident, I am absolutely confident of
this very thing. Paul said, this very thing. That
he that hath begun the work. Now, here's the essence of the
whole thing. Who does the saving? Who does the saving? Is this
thing of salvation a cooperative work between the sinner and God,
or is salvation, eternal life, the gift of God? That's where
it all is. If God saves you, if God began
the work, here's what the old-timers preached. They preached this,
that salvation is of the Lord from beginning to end. It's of
the Lord in its eternal purpose. He purposed it. He planned it. It's of the Lord in its execution.
When Christ came to this earth, the Father sent him. When he
died on that cross, nailed there by wicked hands, he was bruised
and afflicted by the Father. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. In other words, men, John, just carried out what God decreed
to be done. He was the appointed Savior who
died the appointed death for the appointed people in the appointed
way. That's what this Bible teaches.
And also, God applies that salvation. You are the call of Christ Jesus.
You didn't call God, he called you. And his calling you led
you to call on him. He sought you, and then you sought
him. He loved you, and you love him
because he first loved you. He's the one who applies salvation,
and he's the one who sustains it, and he's the one who will
perfect it. Turn to Romans 8. This is what we're saying, and
this is the essence of the whole thing. If a man saves himself,
yes, he can lose it. If salvation is an act of man,
or a work of man, or a cooperative work of man, if man can let himself
in the door of grace, he can let himself out. But if God Almighty
does it, nothing can be put to it and nothing taken away from
it. Now, you at least look at Romans 8. Let's be truthful with
the Word of God. It says in verse 28, and we know
this, that all things work together for good to them who love God,
to them who are thee called according to his purpose. For whom he did
foreknow, and that word is foreordained, whom he foreordained, whom he
in eternity past gave to his son. whom he in eternity past
elected by his grace, whom he in eternity past set his affections
upon, whom he in eternity past out of Adam's race gave to his
Son for a people whom he foreordained." Listen, he also did predestinate
all of the means and every step and every hour and every day
of his good providence, he predestinated them to be conformed to the image
of his Son. that Jesus Christ might be the
firstborn among many brethren, that he might have in heaven
a people who loves what he loves, delights in what he delights,
and enjoys what he enjoys." They'll all be like him. Read on. "...whom
the Father did predestinate, them he also in time, by his
Spirit, through his word, called." You're the called of Christ Jesus.
You see, you're calling, brethren, how that not many mighty, not
many noble, not many wise are called, but God hath chosen.
They're interchangeable. Whom he chooses, he calls. Whom
he predestinates, he calls. You can't break this chain. There
are five golden links that cannot be broken. It says whom he foreordained,
he predestinated, he determined by his purpose that they, every
one, are going to be like Christ. And whom he predestinated to
be like Christ, he in time called. He calls through the word, he
calls through the gospel, he calls through his preachers,
he calls by spirit. But he calls me. He calls them. Read on. And whom he called,
he justified. Do you know what it means to
be justified? Brethren, it means this. It means
to be clearly, totally free from all sin. It means from your association
with Adam and your identification with the flesh in birth, and
every sin in the past, present and future that you've ever or
will commit has been absolutely wiped out as if you never had
one sin. That's what it means to be justified.
It's one thing to be forgiven. It's another thing to be pardoned.
It's a whole new ballgame to be declared not guilty. One man
said the word justification means just as if I had never seen. And because of Christ's obedience
and because of Christ's death, I am totally and completely justified
in God's sight, totally justified. I stand today in Christ as one
who has never seen. That's what justification means,
totally justified, totally justified. And this says this, that whom
he who knew, And whom he said, I'll make like my son, and whom
he in turn called, he totally, by the blood of Christ, by the
death of Christ, by the sacrifice of Christ, totally justified. And whom he justified, that's
the same people he's going to glorify. That's what the Bible
teaches. Turn to Ecclesiastes with me.
I'll give you a moment to find that little book. But this is
the essence of the whole matter. And you remember, this is what
I'm saying. I'm not taking that old fundamentalist, that disposition,
that if a fellow once gets his name on the church roll, that
he can never be lost. No, sir. I'm not saying that
every revival convert that comes down the aisle and joins the
Church and sticks around for six months and heads for the
woods is saved and can never be lost. I'm not saying that
at all. I'm saying that Almighty God elected a people to salvation.
That's in the Word of God. The scripture says, Paul said,
I thank God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Isn't that
what scripture teaches? Again in Ephesians 1, he said, "...blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings, and the heavenlies in Christ,
according as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before him,
in love having predestinated us to the adoption of children."
That's scripture. That's the Word of God. He chose
his people. And he sent Christ down here to die for them. He
said, I die, I lay down my life for my sheep, and in time he
calls them. There will be a confrontation
between the sinner and his Lord. When our Lord Jesus Christ left
a certain town going down to another town, the scripture said
he must needs go through Samaria. Why, John, must he needs go through
Samaria? Why couldn't he go some other
route? He must needs go through Samaria. Why? There's a woman
at a well down there that belongs to him. She's his own. He's going
to cross her path. He must pass under the tree where
Zacchaeus is seated. Why? Zacchaeus is also a son
of Abraham. He must walk by the place where
the blind Bartimaeus of Jericho is seated, because blind Bartimaeus
is one of his children. He must be crucified between
those particular two thieves, because one of them, Charlie,
belongs to him. I believe that with all my heart. And Almighty
God will cross your path with the gospel. Sometimes it will
be so complicated. I can think of so many illustrations
of how complicated this thing has been, but people have been
brought to hear the message of grace in the strangest way. The
strangest way, the most mysterious way, but I tell you, it's no
mystery with God. He set out for you to hear that gospel from
a faithful minister, from his word, so his Spirit will take
it and bring you to faith in Christ. He called. And whom he
called, he justified, whom he justified, he glorified. Now,
that's scriptural facts. And this is where the whole thing
hinges. I'm teaching the preservation
and the perseverance. You say, Preacher, what's the
difference in those two words? Here it is. God says, I will
not let go of them, and they will not let go of me. Preservation
is, I won't turn them loose. They're sealed. They're secure. I keep them by my grace, by my
power. I'll keep them. No man can pluck
them out of my hand. That's preservation. They don't
want out is perseverance. See what I'm talking about? I
will hold them, that's preservation. They will hold me, that's perseverance. I will not let them go, that's
preservation. They will not turn loose of me,
that's perseverance. I will keep them till the rivers
roll their waters at their feet, and then I'll bear them safely
over where the Redeemer they will meet. Lord, to whom shall
we go? You have eternal life." That's
perseverance. And I'm saying that everybody
whom God elected, I'm saying that everybody for whom Christ
died, I'm saying that everybody whom the Holy Spirit awakens,
regenerates, and quickens from the dead will never die again.
I'm saying that everyone for whom Christ died is free from
sin, free from condemnation, free from judgment, free from
charge, and will never perish. And not one sin will ever be
laid to his charge. I'm saying that whom God has
predestinated to be like Christ, he's going to be like Christ.
Now, here's a verse in Ecclesiastes 3. Have you got it there? I want
you to read it. The wise man Solomon said, I
know this. And I know this, that whatsoever
God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it, or
anything taken from it, God does it. So here's the question, who
saved you? Who saved you? Did God save you?
That's what I'm saying. Look back at Philippians 1, being
confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun the
work. Turn to John 1, in the first
chapter of John. Sinners are dead in trespasses
and sin. Dead men do not rise, not by
their own power. Can a dead man rise? No, sir. Can he be raised? Yes, sir. Who
can raise him? Christ. Can the Ethiopian change
his skin? No, sir. Can his skin be changed?
Yes, sir. Can a leper change his spots?
No, sir. Can they be changed? Yes, sir.
Can you do good that are accustomed to doing evil, that love evil?
Can you love God who once loved evil? Can you love righteousness
who once loved sin and hated holiness? No, sir, you can't
in your own strength, but it can be done by God. And that's
what we're seeing. John 1, verse 11, Christ came
unto his own. That's his own things, his own
people, his own nation, his own world, and they received him
not. As many as received him, to them
gave he the right, the privilege, the power to become sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name." See that picture?
I told you he came and everybody believes on him. They're the
ones that are saved. That's what I told you, too. That's so. What's
the next verse? "...which were born." Oh, these
people were born. They were begotten from the dead.
They were brought forth from the dead. They were born. Not
of blood, that is, not of family inheritance. You're not saved
because your daddy was or your mama was. Not of blood, not of
bloodline. This is not a bloodline salvation.
Not of the will of the flesh. It's not your flesh that willed
you into life. Not of the will of man. It was
man that willed you into life. God. But of God. You were born of God. According
to his will. Turn to James 1, the verse we
read this morning, the first chapter of James. Let's turn
over there, James 1. Listen to it, James 1.18, "...of
his own will beget he us," see it there, James 1.18, "...with
the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his
creatures." It was of God's will. Our Lord said, Rebekah hath conceived
by her father Isis, and the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said
to Rebekah, The older will serve the younger. I love Jacob, I
hate Esau." You know what it said? It said, What shall we
say to these things? What's our reply? O man, who
art thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say
to him that formed it, Why do you make me this way? Hath not
God, like the potter, power over the clay, to make of the same
lump one vessel under honour, and another vessel under dishonour?
He said the Lord's is, I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy,
and I'll be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and whom
I will I'll harden." That's scripture. I'll tell you, if Paul got in
our average pulpit today and started preaching like that,
Half the congregation would rise up in arms against him. Philippians
1 again, let's look at verse 6. I'm going to move on here.
He says, I'm confident of this very thing, that he which hath
begun a good work. But this is a foundation that
must be laid, that we're teaching the preservation and the perseverance
and the security and the certainty of salvation for every sheep
of Christ, every redeemed person. They are elected by God. They
are redeemed by God. They're called by God, they're
made in Christ new creatures. They don't want to leave him.
They have found him who is life. There's no joy like his joy.
There's no happiness like his happiness. There's no family
like his family. There's no king like our king.
Why in the world would they want to leave Him when He's everything
and they're complete in Him? And God gives them a new heart
and a new nature. And they don't just serve God
out of duty and responsibility or hoping for heaven in return.
They serve God because they love God. And they'll always love
Him. And they fall more in love with
Him every day. and they'll love him throughout
life. Let's look at the text again. I'm confident that he
that hath begun a good work, a perfect work in you, and our
salvation is perfected by one offering, Christ hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. It's a good work. Our righteousness
is perfect. Our holiness is perfect. It's
a work that hath begun in you. It's not just, I said this morning,
it's not an external ritualism, it's not an external legalism,
it's not an external obedience, it's a heart work. God has put
within his people a new nature, a new spirit, and a new heart
in Christ and in the creatures. They don't follow the word of
God because they have to, they follow it because they love it,
they're interested in it. They don't witness because they
have to. Somebody said this. Witnessing
is one beggar telling another beggar where he got bread. In
other words, here are two bums, and they think a lot of one another,
and they separate one day, and one of them goes to a house and
knocks on a door, and a lady affixes him a lavish meal and
puts it on the table, and he's seated and he eats that meal.
You know the first thing he'll do? He'll run and go find his
buddy, and he'll say, Let me tell you something, Floyd, I
found some food. Let me take you to where it is.
He doesn't have to do that, he does it because he loves that
man, because he enjoyed that food. And that's the way it is
when a man comes to know Christ. The preacher doesn't have to
bawl him out and scold him and say, if you don't witness, you
don't love Jesus. Well, that's really true, you
know. But he's going to go find his friends and he's going to
say, listen, I want to tell you something wonderful. I want to
tell you where this old naked sinner got clothed. I want to
tell you where this old hungry sinner got fed. I want to tell
you where this old dead sinner got life. I want to tell you
where this old sick sinner was healed. I want to tell you about
Christ. Will you listen? No, I don't want to hear it.
Well, I'll go tell somebody else, but I'm going to tell somebody
or both. It's a good work, and he will
perfect it, he will perform it, he will finish it. And don't let me scare you here,
because I'm going to try to use a little judgment tonight, which
I'm not blessed with a great deal. But here are six things
that absolutely have to be dealt with in this matter of perseverance.
The first one is the Scripture. The first ground of confidence
is the Scripture. Let every word be established
by the Word of God. You say, this doesn't seem right.
We're not talking about what seems right. We're not talking
about what we think is right. I'm talking about what this book
says. Now, we've got to go by the Word of God or throw it out
the window. And the Bible says if a man doesn't speak according
to this book, there's no light in him, there's no dawn in him,
there's no morning in him. Listen to this. I got out a concordance and a
native topical Bible and started reading scriptures that had to
do with preservation and perseverance, and I found this out. I could
read until midnight. I mean, midnight! The Word of
God talks about preservation and perseverance connected with
salvation every time it mentions salvation, because it's an everlasting
salvation. But let me just read you a few.
Job said this, "...the righteous shall hold his way, and he that
hath clean hands," that doesn't mean we cleansed them, Christ
cleansed them, "...his blood cleanseth us from all sin. He
that hath clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger." She didn't
listen to this. Psalm 37, David said, The Lord
loves judgment, and the Lord will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever. You want to look that up? That's
Psalm 37.28. They are preserved forever, his
saints. Jeremiah 32, I will make an everlasting
covenant with them. I will not turn away from them,
but I'll put my fear in their hearts, and they will not turn
away from me. They will not depart." That's
the reason John said about these people that left the gospel.
He said they went out from us because they never were of us.
He said there's no doubt if they were of us, they never would
have left us. That's what John said, because
that's what Jeremiah said. God says, I will not turn away
from them and they won't depart from me. Listen to this. Luke
22, our Lord said, Satan hath desired thee that
he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your
faith fail not. Listen to John 10, where I read,
My sheep hear my voice, they follow me, I give them eternal
life, they, my sheep, will never perish. Romans 11.29, the gifts
and calling of God. Is salvation a gift of God? Yes,
sir. Is salvation a calling of God?
Yes, sir. There, without change. That's what it says, Romans 11.29,
without change. I am the Lord, I change not.
Listen to this, 2 Timothy 4.18. The Lord shall deliver me from
every evil work, he will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom."
I want you to turn to 1 Peter. This is one I want you to turn
to in your Bible. 1 Peter 1. I'm talking about,
with very strong dogmatism, the preservation and the perseverance
of God's sheep, of God's elect. of those who believe on Christ
with a heart, who know him as their Lord and Savior. 1 Peter
1 verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten
us again unto a living hope, lively living, by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible
Undefiled, that faith is not away, reserved in heaven for
you," there's no period there, comma, "...who are kept by the
power of God through faith." Huh? That's perseverance. Kept by the power of God, that's
preservation. Through faith, that's perseverance.
No, sir, I'm not saying God's going to take a man by the hair
of the head and take him into the kingdom of God while he kicks
and screams all the way. He's going to come willingly.
Thy people shall be made willing in the day of thy power. That's
what the Scripture says. That's what the Word of God says.
Here's the second thing, briefly. If God's sheep do not all persevere,
the attributes of God are in trouble. Think with me. What are the attributes of God?
who he is, his nature. There was an old man, an old
believer. This is supposed to have really happened. It's told
by one of those old pictures. I read it. But there was an old
believer and a skeptic got a hold of him one day. And he said to
that old believer, he said, old man, you believe you're saved?
He said, yes, sir, I do. He said, I'm resting in Christ.
I'm trusting in Christ. I believe he's my hope, my righteousness,
my salvation. I'm resting in him. Well, he
said, old man, what is? Now, what is? You come to the
gate of heaven one of these days, and all these years you've believed
on Christ and rested in Christ and trusted in Christ, and you've
committed your soul totally to him, like you said, and you come
to the gate of heaven, and they cast you out and won't take you
in. What are you going to do about that? Listen, the old man
looked at him and said, God will lose a whole lot more than I
will. He sat there reverent. Now, wait a minute. God will
lose a whole lot more than I will. I'll lose my soul, but God will
lose his character, because he promised if I believed on Christ
and rested in Christ, he'd save me, and that'd make God a liar.
You see what he's saying? So God's attributes, and I'm
saying this to you, if God begins a work and does not finish it,
his wisdom comes into question. Why did he start something that
he didn't intend to finish? His wisdom is brought into question. Secondly, his power is brought
into question. Like I said this morning, are
the demons of hell going to laugh throughout eternity at God building
a building halfway and quitting? Salvation is his workmanship.
We are living temples. for the glory of Christ, and
God's going to be on them halfway and quit, and throughout eternity
they're going to say, he started it, but he couldn't finish it.
No, sir. Thirdly, his immutability. You say, what in the world does
that mean? God is unchangeable. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not, in Malachi. He said, I have spoken, I will
bring it to pass. God's immutability will be brought
into question. Third, fourthly, where is his
everlasting love? Where is this, God says, I've
loved you with an everlasting love? Well, you mean God starts
loving me and then quits loving me? Not everlasting. It's not
infinite. His love comes up the question.
What about his grace? What about his mercy? What about
his love? Will he cast away those who trusted
him, those who called upon him? To God who said, Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, and a man calls
and God turns him away, where is God's grace and God's mercy?
Here's the third thing. Now, listen to this. If God's
sheep do not all persevere, what shall we do with the atonement
of Jesus Christ? Now, if God's sheep do not all
persevere, what shall we do with the atonement? I ask four questions.
Who is Jesus Christ? Who is the one who died on that
cross? That's God's Son, God's eternal Son. Why is he on that
cross? He came there to bear the sins
of his people. Thirdly, what did he do in dying
on that cross? He paid their debt. That's what
scripture says. Where is he now? He's at the
right hand of God. Is he? Well, then I understand
you to say that that's God's Son. The eternal, well-beloved,
only begotten Son of God. God sent him to die on that cross
for his people. And when he died on that cross,
he did save their souls. He put away their sin. And he
went back to heaven and sat down on the right hand of God. You
mean to tell me that even in the light of his person and work
and exaltation that all that may yet be in vain? You make a mockery of Jesus Christ.
You make a mockery of his death. Isaiah 53, let's turn over there
and read it. These are the things, my friend,
it's not just my logic or argument, these are the things that are
the clinching arguments for the security of God's people, the
Atonement of Christ, the character of God, the Word of God. Listen
to Isaiah 53, verse 10. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his day, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities."
Fourthly, if his sheep do not persevere, What shall we do with
the doctrine of justification? I said a while ago, whom he foreordained,
he predestinated, whom he predestinated, he called whom he called, he
justified? Now, listen to this scripture.
Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God.
We're justified. Now, turn to Romans 8 and let
me show you another scripture. We're saying that those people
for whom Christ died, those people who rest in Christ, those people
for whom he suffered, that they are justified. Now, his righteousness
is a perfect righteousness, his sacrifice and sin offering is
a perfect offering, he hath perfected them. And here's what Paul says
about it, verse 33 of Romans 8, "...then who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth." Who
can condemn? He challenges heaven, earth,
and hell and says, who can condemn them? It's Christ that died!
Yea, rather, is risen again who has ascended to the right hand
of God. who maketh intercession for us."
And that brings me to the fifth thing. What shall we do about
the intercession of Christ if his people die? He's prayed for
them. It says here he makes intercession
for us. Does his intercession go for
naught? Are his prayers not heard? And here's the last one. Turn
to 1 Peter 1. If one sheep of Christ perishes for whom he died,
who was born of his Spirit, turn to 1 Peter 1. What are we going
to do about that incorruptible seed that liveth forever? You mean there's going to be
the life of Christ and the seed of Christ in hell? Read this
verse, 1 Peter 1.23, being born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible, that's pure Holy divine seed, incorruptible
as holy and divine. Being born again of incorruptible
seed by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. This
is what I'm saying. When God begets a sinner and
he's born again, he is born of that incorruptible living seed,
the very life of God that cannot die. Now, what's going to become
of it if that man perishes? See what I'm saying? That living
seed. That living seed. Turn to John
6. Let me read one more scripture. John 6, reading verses 55 through
58. "'Whoso eateth my flesh,' this
is the life of Christ, and the point I'm making is this, the
Word of God teaches our preservation and perseverance, the attributes
of God demanded, the atonement of Christ, the intercession of
Christ, Now, here's what I'm saying, salvation is the life
of Christ in a man, the incorruptible seed, the life of Christ. Now,
listen, "...whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal
life. And I raise him up at the last
day. My flesh is meat indeed, my blood is drink indeed. He
that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and
I in him." Not every church member, not
every baptized person, not every convert, not every professor
of religion, but every child of God, Christ dwells in him. Jesus Christ lives in him. Now,
for him to perish and for him to go to hell, the seed of Christ
has got to go to hell. It's incorruptible seed. It's
the life of God. And I'm saying if he's saved
and Christ lives in him, the devils in hell can't damn him.
Nobody can damn him. You can't take Christ to hell.
And Christ says, he dwells in me, and I dwell in him. Read
on verse 56, "...as the living Father hath sent me, and I live
by the Father, so that he that eateth me, he lives by me." And
Paul said, it's not I that live, it's Christ that lives in me. I'll tell you an old problem
about this saying, we've missed what salvation is. And Gerald,
that's just so now. That outfit you came out of,
they just missed salvation. Now, you can't call that salvation
that's here today and gone tomorrow, that's not Christ, that's not
the incorruptible seed, that's not the life of God, because
the life of God is forever. It can't be. The same thing,
Jack Dempsey goes in that outfit you came out of, and the one
I came out of, Southern Baptists, the same thing goes for them.
They walk down the aisle, fundamentalists, and shake hands and call it salvation.
It's no more salvation than a man taking a bath can wash his sins
away. Salvation is God-given, God-created, God-begotten, it's
God's life in a man, by the power of God, and it will never end.
That's just so. And I like that story, I'm going
to give it to you right here. A young man, his old father was
a saved man who knew God. And the young man one day went
to one of these high-toned Hollywood evangelistic campaigns, He walked
down the aisle at the end of the service and made a profession
of religion and adopted all of their ideas. He kept up the pretense. He got him a pen to put in his
lapel, got him a Bible, went gung-ho for Jesus for a long
time, bought him a bumper sticker and just had a big time claiming
salvation. His old dad didn't say much.
He just observed him. One night the boy went to bed,
and he was lying there in the bed. And his sins, the true horror
of his sins, flooded in upon him. The true nature of his sins
flooded in upon him. The justice of God appeared to
him. The holiness of God appeared
to him. And the thought occurred to him
right then, I've lost my religion. I've fallen from grace." He'd
heard them talk about that, you know. He'd heard them talk about
losing their religion, falling from grace. He'd heard all that.
And he lay there, and the more he lay there in the bed, the
longer he lay there, the darker it became, and the more troubled
he became, and disturbed he became, and all these things. He thought
about his experience and tried to get some help and couldn't,
and he thought about all these different things, tried to get
some help and couldn't. Finally he got up from the bed and ran
into his father's room and fell down on his knees and said, I've fallen from grace, and the
old man said, Good. Good. What do you mean, good,
Father? I mean good. Now you can trust
Christ. Now you can trust Christ. And
that's what you've got to do, is let her go. Let your religion,
like Paul said, I circumcised the eighth day of the tribe of
Benjamin, or the Hebrew of the Hebrews, or concerning the law,
blameless, and zeal and all that. I count these things but done,
that I may win Christ and be found in him. When you get tired
of trying to find salvation in what you've done, maybe you can
look to Christ. When you get tired of trying
to find some comfort and some peace and some rest and refuge
in what you're doing, then maybe you can let go of that and rest
in Christ. But I'm such a good person. Oh, if you just knew. If you just knew. If you could
just see sin as God sees it. It's not hard for a sinner to
trust Christ. It's hard for self-righteous
people to trust Christ. It's not hard for a sick man
to go to a doctor. He welcomes a doctor. It's hard
for the fellow that thinks he's well. What do I need to go to
a doctor for? Nothing wrong with me. Well,
the well don't need a doctor, but sick people do.