Now my subject is Once Saved, Always Saved. And this subject has been argued,
it's been debated for centuries. Able men have had harsh and dividing
words and conflicts over what I'm preaching tonight. My subject
has been called by many names. Some call it once in grace, always
in grace. Some call it the eternal security
of the believer. Some call it the preservation
and some the perseverance of the saints. Our Lord in John
chapter 10 verse 27 states it very plainly. He says in verse
27 of John 10, My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they
follow me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. And they shall never perish. That's the way the Lord states
it. And they shall never, never perish. My sheep hear my voice,
and they follow me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall
never perish. Now the hymn writer has put it
this way, the soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will
not, I will not desert to its pose. That soul, though all hail,
should endeavor to shake. I'll never, no never, no never
forsake. This is going to be a simple
message on this subject. I have three points. And I'm
going to stick to these three points. There are three questions.
The first question is this, what is this doctrine, once saved,
always saved? What is this doctrine? What are
we really saved? When we say a man is once saved,
then he's always saved. What are we saved? Secondly,
what does God's word say about it? What does the scripture say? And then thirdly, why Is the
doctrine important? Why are you preaching on this
pastor? Why is this doctrine important? Now the first question,
what is the doctrine that I'm preaching? What does it mean,
once saved, always saved? Now this is important. Very important. For example, if someone comes
to you tonight, some stranger, out of the night, and says to
you, do you believe in predestination? Now you wouldn't be a very wise
man if you answered yes. You wouldn't be a wise man if
you answered yes, because you don't know his definition of
predestination. You'd be a wise man if you'd
say to him, what do you mean? What do you mean by predestination? I may believe it and I may not.
It all depends on, I believe Bible predestination, but I don't
know what you're saying. If someone comes to you and says,
do you believe in election? Ask him what he means. Are you
a Calvinist? Ask him what he means. Are you
a Baptist? Ask him his definition. A man came up to Dr. Magruder
one time and said, Are you born again? He said, I don't know.
What does it mean to be born again? Now that's a good question. Because he may have a strange
conception of what the new birth really is. So this doctrine I'm
preaching tonight, what is once saved, always saved, I must define
it. Because I think a lot of the
enmity and hatred for what I'm trying to preach has come about
because men do not understand the doctrine. I think that's
the reason. They do not understand. Now let's
go back to the text, John chapter 10. Immediately we recognize
first. The first thing we recognize, if you've paid any attention
at all, if you've listened carefully to the Scripture at all, the
first thing you recognize is the Lord Jesus Christ said, hear
my voice. My sheep hear my voice. And I
know them, and I give my sheep eternal life, and my sheep will
never perish." You see that? All the way through this 10th
chapter. Let's look back at verse 3 and 4. Let's look at it carefully. Verse 3, "...to him the porter
openeth, and the sheep hear his voice. And he calleth his own
sheep by name, and leadeth them out." And when he putteth forth
his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him.
He just keeps saying this. He keeps identifying these people
he's talking about. He calls them his own, his own
sheep. His own sheep. Look at verse
11. Look at verse 11. I am the good
shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. For the
sheep. That's what we're talking about
all the way through this chapter. We're not talking about anybody
else but his sheep. Verse 14 through 16. Listen to
this. I'm the good shepherd, I know
my sheep. And have known of mine, as the Father knoweth me, even
so I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And
other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring. And how about verse 26? You believe
not, because you're not of my sheep. So the first thing I say
to you is this, when I'm talking about this eternal salvation,
I'm talking about His sheep. They're the only ones who have
eternal salvation. They're the only ones who are
saved, and consequently they're the only ones who are eternally
safe. The promise of eternal life,
eternal grace, and eternal security is given to no one but to His
sheep. My sheep hear my voice. And I
know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life
and they will never perish. My sheep. Now the ungodly and
unbeliever has no, no, he has no part in this promise. The
church member as such has no part in this promise. The church
hypocrite and false professor has no part in this promise.
The stony ground hearer and the tares, they're not secure in
anything except in their sin. They're not securing anything
except under God's wrath. So let this note be sounded.
Once in Christ, chosen in Him, loved in Him, crucified in Him,
buried in Him, risen in Him, raised in Him, called in Him,
seated in Him, bathed in Him, once in Christ, they're always
in Christ. Now that's what the Scripture
is saying. My sheep, my sheep. I went through here and just
put a line under every time that the word my sheep is used or
the sheep. And it just goes on and on and
on and on. My sheep, my sheep, my sheep. They'll not hear another
voice. They'll not follow another shepherd. They hear my voice.
They follow me. I lay down my life for them.
I give them eternal life. They'll never perish. And this
crowd of religious folks came up and said, now if you be the
Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told you. You heard
what they heard. But you didn't believe. You didn't
believe because you're not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice.
And they follow me and I give them eternal life. Once in Christ. By God's eternal purpose. By
Christ's eternal purchase. And by the Holy Spirit's application. Always in Christ. And my friend,
once a child of God. A child of the King. Always a
child of the King. and once justified by his grace. Listen to the Apostle Paul. Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is
Christ that died, yea, rather is risen again, who is even at
the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. No
one can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus the Lord, once passed from death unto life, always in life,
once translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of
God's dear Son, always a part of that blessed kingdom. Now
I'm not saying that believers, true believers, God's sheep will
never sin. I'm not saying, I'm saying they'll
never perish. I'm not saying that God's true
sheep will never sin. I'm saying they'll never fall
from his love. I'm not saying that they'll never
commit a transgression. I'm saying that they'll never
fall from His grace. Never. Never. Sometimes to their
own grief and sorrow, they do and say and think things that
are grievous to them. For example, I'm sure that Noah
regretted his shameful behavior when he came off the ark that
caused the judgment of God to fall upon his home. I'm sure
that Abraham many hours regretted the lies that he told to protect
his own life, the failure of his faith under a trying situation. I'm sure he regretted it. I'm
sure he wept over it. I'm sure that Lot regretted the
day that in his greed he chose the plains of Sodom and turned
Abraham to the mountains. I'm sure that Jacob spent many
hours looking into the fire and weeping over the fact he deceived
his father and had to leave home and deceived his brother and
had to try to bribe him for his protection. I'm sure that Moses
wept over the fact that God's judgment fell upon him because
he lost his temper and didn't sanctify God in the presence
of the people and spoke so ugly and so harshly on that occasion. I'm sure that David, many, many
times, I'm sure that he's saying when he said, my sin is ever
before me, he's thinking of his great sin against Bathsheba and
against her husband and her family. I'm sure that Solomon, I'm sure
that Solomon regretted the fact that he permitted his wives to
worship heathen gods. I know that Peter, the scripture
says, he went out and wept bitterly, bitterly. because three times
he denied his Lord. I know that Paul regretted the
argument that he had with Barnabas over John Mark that caused them
to break fellowship with one another and one go one way and
one go the other way. For Paul later wrote and told
Barnabas to come see him and bring John Mark with him. I'm
not saying that God's people do not fall and do not fail. I'm not saying they have perfect
faith. But I'm saying that true believers, the sheep of Christ,
will never totally and completely and finally depart from Jesus
Christ, because he's their life. Christ is our life. Christ is
our foundation. Christ is our refuge. Believers
do sin, but they always repent. Believers do fail, but they always
come back. They may lose the comfort of
grace, but never the grace itself. Now that's so. They may lose
the comfort of grace, but never God's grace. They may lose the
feeling of salvation, but never the fact of salvation. They may
lose, they may have doubts and fears about themselves, but I
can guarantee you one thing, they never have any doubts about
their Lord. Now that's so, and I know every
believer in here would say the same thing, I have doubts and
fears about myself, but I never doubt his sufficiency, I never
doubt his ability, I never doubt his power, I never doubt his
blood, I never doubt his grace. If I perish, I'll perish looking
to him. If I perish, I'll perish resting
in Christ. Now I'm not saying, turn to Hebrews
3. Nor am I saying that men are secure in indifference." Now
this has brought a lot of trouble upon this theology, this
doctrine. Somebody makes a profession of
faith and lives in indifference and carelessness and unconcern
and no seeking of the Lord, no desire after Him, no panting
for holiness. no prayer life, no grace, manifestation
of the fruit of the Spirit. And that person says, well, I'm
saved, that boy, I'm always saved. No, I beg your pardon. In Hebrews
3, listen to verse 6. Christ is a son over his own
house, whose house are we if, if, if we hold fast the confidence
and rejoicing of the whole, firm unto the end. Look at verse 14. We are made partakers of Christ
if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the
end. My friends, the indifferent are
not secure in Christ, for they are not in Christ. No man can
be in Christ and be indifferent to his love. It's just impossible. No man can be in Christ and be
indifferent to his grace. John said in 1 John 2, verse
19, they went out from us, they departed from us because they
were not of us. If they had been of us, John
said, I'm so sure if they had been of us, I'm so certain if
they had been of us. What does he mean of us? If they'd
been true believers. If they'd been true disciples.
If they'd been true believers in Christ. He said they would
no doubt, no doubt have remained with us. I don't have any doubt
about it. So what we're saying here in
this message, once saved, always saved, once in grace, always
in grace, once in Christ, always in Christ, I'm saying that his
sheep, which the Father gave him, which he purchased on the
trade, his sheep called by the Holy Spirit to true repentance
and true faith, will never perish. If one sheep of Christ could
fall away, My poor soul would fall a thousand times a day.
Wouldn't yours? But his sheep. That's our confidence. It's not in ourselves, it's in
Him. Now here's the second thing. What does the Bible say about
this doctrine? Now I don't need to tell you
that the Word of God is the only true test of any doctrine. If
we're going to claim any doctrine or preach any doctrine or believe
any doctrine or lay hold upon any doctrine, we've got to find
it in God's Word. And that doesn't mean by shifting
verses and taking verses out of context and making verses
mean what they do not mean, but just believing what God said.
One fellow said one time, God said it, I believe it, that settles
it. No. If God said it, that settles
it whether you believe it or not, or whether I believe it
or not. So let's see what God's Word says. Now I read you John
10. Turn to John 5. John chapter 5, verse 24. John
5, 24. Now let's see what is this taught
in the Bible. What's in Christ? What's in grace? What's redeemed? What's his sheep?
What's God's child? Never perish. It certainly says
that all the way through this book. John 5, 24. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation. Shall not. Shall not. but is passed from death unto
life. Look at John 6, verse 37. John 6, 37. Now listen to this.
All that my Father giveth me, this is the sheep, my friend,
this is the sheep, given my Father which gave them me, he said,
is greater than all. And no man can pluck them out
of my Father's hand. My Father chose them. All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, shall come to me, all. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. I will under no circumstances
for no reason cast him out. I will not. For I came down from
heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent
me. And this is the Father's will which is sent me, that of
all which he hath given me I lose nothing. I lose nothing. Raise it up again at the last
day. My friends, the offices of Christ assure the believer
and the sheep's security. What kind of head is Christ if
the body perishes? Huh? What kind of head do you
have there? What kind of shepherd is Christ
if one of those lambs perishes? I tell you this. I tell you this. If Ed Ballard had a flock of
sheep, hired me to be the shepherd, and every one of them were precious
to him, he loved every one of them, he said, those are my sheep,
Henry. I'm going to turn them over to you. You're the surety.
I want every one of them brought home tonight. And I came and
stood before him and said, Ed, I failed. I lost three of them. I lost them. Don't hand me that.
Our Lord, don't tell me the good shepherd, the chief shepherd,
the great shepherd is going to stand before the Father and say,
I tried, Lord. My Father, I tried. But I hate
to report I've lost two of your sheep. What kind of husband is
Christ if the bride go unprotected? Huh, Charlie? What kind of husband
is that? Cannot secure his bride. What kind of priest is it? What
kind of priest is Christ if the atonement fails? What kind of
physician is Christ if the patient dies? What kind of king is Christ
if he cannot care for his kingdom? You see, this is what he's saying
here, that all which my Father giveth me, I'll lose nothing,
not a one of them, but I'll raise them up at the last day. Turn
to Romans 8. Romans 8, verse 39. Romans 8, chapter, let's look
first of all, Romans 8, verse 39. Yeah, 38 and 39. I am persuaded
that neither death, now this takes in everything, nor life,
No angels, no principalities, no powers, no things present,
no things to come, no height, no depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Turn to Philippians chapter 1.
Let's look at verse 6. I'm not reaching over, picking
up texts that have nothing to do with the context. Read the
whole 8th chapter of Romans. We're talking about children.
If children of God, then heirs of God. If heirs of God, joint
heirs with Christ. Whom he foreknew, he predestinated.
Whom he predestinated, he called. Whom he called, he justified.
Whom he justified, he glorified. What shall we say to these things?
If God be for us, who can be against us? Who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Philippians 1, 6. Be in confidence. of this very thing, confident
that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it. What's that word in the center
reference there? Finish it. Finish it. He, now here's your question,
who saved you? That depends on whether your
security depends on who saved you. That's where it all is. If you saved yourself, no, I'm
not defending, I'm not saying you have any security. You may
fall tomorrow and more than likely will before it's over. But if
God saved you, He that hath begun the work, He began the work.
He'll finish it. Turn to Ecclesiastes. Let me
show you that. Ecclesiastes. Let's look into that in just
a few moments. Ecclesiastes, I think it's chapter
5. Chapter 3. Ecclesiastes 3, verse
14. Listen. I know. I know. The preacher says, Ecclesiastes
3.14, I know that whatsoever God doeth, it will be forever.
Whatsoever God doeth, nothing can be put to it, and nothing
can be taken from it. God doeth it, and he that may
fear before him. So he that hath begun the work.
Now don't take any security in a little old profession of faith,
or joining the church, or adopting some doctrine, or finding some
theology, or shifting from Arminianism to Calvinism, all that. But if
he began a work of grace in your heart, if he loved you, and found
you, and redeemed you, and brought you to Christ, you'll finish
what he started. Because you see, the attributes
of God assure the believer's security. Turn to Malachi chapter
3. What are the attributes of God?
Well, that word means the qualities that belong to God only. The
attributes of God, the character of God. Malachi 3, 6. Listen
to it. Malachi 3, 6. He says, I am the
Lord, for I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. That's the foundation of the
whole thing. The foundation of the whole thing is God's character
and attributes and purpose, Christ's purchase, Christ's redemption,
and God's promise. Look at Romans 11. Here's another
verse, Romans chapter 11. We're talking about the attributes
of God, the character of God. Who God is prevents him from
beginning something and not completing it. Prevents him from willing
something and it not coming to pass. Prevents him from giving
a gift and then taking it back. God cannot change. He said, I'm
the Lord, I change. Not Romans 11, 29. The gifts
and calling of God are without repentance. They're without change. They're without change. They
cannot change because of who He is. What is His gift? Christ is His gift, His unspeakable
gift. The gift of God's eternal life
in Christ our Lord. His gifts, His calling, you're
the called of Christ Jesus. It can't change. It can't change. Now thirdly, why is this doctrine
so important? Number one, it's important because
it's good news. Good news. The gospel is called
good news. That's what it means. Glad tidings.
Good news. Now, it's good news that God
loves sinners, right? That's good news. Sinners ought
to rejoice when we come before them to declare, God loves sinners. God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son. That ought to make glad the heart
of the sinner. That's good news. It's good news
that Christ came into the world. Paul said this is a sure saying,
it's a faithful saying that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners of whom I'm chief. That's good news. It's good news
that Christ died for our sins on the cross. Isn't that good
news? It's good news. I heard about one preacher saying
if he'd have been there, he'd have stopped it. Well, I'm glad
Christ died. If he hadn't have died, we'd
have no Savior. We'd have no Redeemer. He died
for our sins. He shed his blood for our transgressions. That's good news. Christ died
for us. It's good news that the Holy
Spirit comes to the heart of God's elect and quickens them
and troubles them and brings them to faith. Isn't that good
news? And it's good news that we're pardoned and forgiven of
all our transgressions. It's good news that the dead
shall rise. Isn't that all good news? But hang on a minute. Wait
a minute. Where is the good news that in
spite of all these things, I may yet be lost? How could you have
any happiness at all? How could you rejoice in the
Lord? You may yet be lost. How can you praise Him for His
sacrifice? It may not avail. How can you praise Him for His
elective grace? It may mean nothing. you may
wind up in hell, that's what I'm told. Once admitted, once
admitted, once given the slightest, the slightest opening that a
chosen, called, justified, sanctified, pardoned, forgiven, redeemed
man may perish, you take all the good news out of the gospel.
No good news. No good news. That's why it's
important. That's why it's important, because
It's good news that the sheep of Christ will never perish.
I thank God for that. I tell you, that's the comfort
and joy. And you just might need that someday, I don't know, maybe
you won't, but most of us will. Most of us will. Most of us will
need that because we'll find our confidence not in our own
holiness, but in His. We'll find our confidence not
in our own merit, but in His. We'll find our assurance not
in our piety, but in his. Huh? I need that. My sheep will never perish. My sheep. All right, here's the
second reason why it's good news. It's because it makes the work
of Christ certain. Jesus, the song says, never fails. Jesus never fails. Heaven and
earth may pass away, but Jesus never fails. You talk about a
sheep perishing for whom he died. You talk about a sheep perishing
given to him by the Father. You talk about a sheep perishing
who have been redeemed by the death of the Son. And you put
a question mark on the mission of the Son and the work of the
Son. Let me show you a scripture, Isaiah 53. This is that blessed
Spurgeon called Gospel of the Old Testament, Isaiah 53. Isaiah
53, verse Verse 10 and 11. Let me show
you this a moment. Isaiah 53, 10 and 11. It says
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. God the Father hath put him to
grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. For he shall see of the travail
of his soul, and shall be satisfied. And by his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many." Why? Because he bore their iniquities. That's why. I'll tell you why
this doctrine is important. It exalts and magnifies and makes
effectual the work of Christ the Lord. And then last of all,
it gives comfort to the believer. Job, among all of his sorrow,
suffering, sickness, and trials, this was his comfort. I know
my Redeemer liveth. I know he liveth. And in the
latter day, he'll stand on this earth, and I shall see him, not
another, but I myself. These eyes shall behold my Redeemer. That was his comfort. And over
here in II Thessalonians, will you turn over there with me a
moment? This is the comfort of the believer, the fact that he
shall never perish. He has a hope of Christ Jesus. It's 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. This
is the comfort to the believer. He says in verse 13 of 1 Thessalonians
4, I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others who
have no hope. For if we believe, that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with
the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. We
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever
be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words." And if I have to stand up here
and read this and put a question mark on it, a question mark on
every promise, this may be so and it may not be so. It could
be and it could not. Then there'd be no comfort for
anybody here. But I'll tell you, it's genuine comfort in Christ. My sheep hear my voice, and they
follow me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. And no man shall pluck them out
of my hand. My Father gave them to me, and
no man can pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father
are one. Our Father, we thank Thee for
the hope we have in Christ. This is our confidence that Christ
loved us and gave himself for us. This is our only foundation.
Our only hope and our only plea is that when Christ died, he
died for me. We thank Thee for the comfort
and the joy and the assurance that we have in Thy promise,
in Thy Word. We pray that thou would use this
message tonight to accomplish that purpose in every heart and
every life. Those who know not Christ, may
they be brought to look to him, to rest in him, to trust in him.
Those who thus, in days gone by, built on foundations of sand,
may they, through the Word and by thy Spirit, find that rock
Christ Jesus and build on him, and find their confidence and
hope in him alone. Those who are filled with doubts
and fears and troubled, we pray that Thou would give them the
assurance and confidence that they need to look out of themselves
to Him, to look away from their feelings to His Word, to look
away from experiences and look to the Word of the living God
and find His promise oh so sweet. Use this message for whatever
seems good in thy sight. For our good and thy glory, we
pray, for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's sing that hymn, Ronnie,
How Firm a Foundation. I think there's a couple of tunes.
268? Turn to 268. 268. And let's sing the hymn
I quoted a minute ago, How Firm a Foundation. I believe we'll
just sing all five stanzas if you don't
mind How firm a foundation, ye Saints
of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent Word. What more can he say than to
you he hath said, To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled,
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed, For I am thy God,
I will still give I'll strengthen thee, help thee,
and cause thee to stand, upheld by my gracious omnipotent hand.