Here's the thing, I went out and this week I got a copy of Pilgrim's Progress by John
Blyton, the unabridged original edition. And it had been read to me so many times,
I said, I'm gonna read this book and I want to understand whether this man is preaching
right or wrong, and I want to know whether he's preaching the Gospel or not, you
know, by grace through faith. And so I got the book and I started reading it,
and the first thing that jumped out at me as I began to read it was that it was so difficult
for me to get saved in the story. You know, who's ever, who's read Pilgrim's Progress?
Peter Graham. Okay. And it just seemed like it was making salvation very difficult for
him. And he had to jump through all these hoops, and then finally he gets to the point
where the burden falls off his back and he's saved and everything. But then I kept
noticing as I read the book that it almost seemed like if he didn't keep going, if
he didn't endure it, he wasn't going to make it to the celestial city, like he wasn't
going to make it to heaven. And I was reading it and I got to this passage. Listen,
this is a direct quote from Pilgrim's Progress. It's from part one, section seven of Pilgrim's
Progress. Indeed, are you listening to this quote from the book? Indeed, our present condition
is dreadful, and death would be far more welcome to me than thus forever to hide.
But yet let us consider the Lord of the country, talking about God, to which we are
not, hath said, Thou shalt do no murder, no, not to another man's person. Much more
than are we forbidden to take this counsel to kill ourselves. Besides, he that kills
another can but commit murder upon his body, but for one to kill himself, are you listening,
but for one to kill himself is to kill body and soul at once. And moreover, my brother,
he's talking to Christian in the story. And moreover, my brother, thou talkest of ease
in the grave, but hast thou forgotten that hell whither for certain the murderers go,
for no murderer hath eternal life, et cetera. So here in the story, in section seven of
part one of John Biden's biography, he tells them that if you kill yourself, you will
lose your salvation and go to hell. That's what it said. It said if you kill somebody
else, you're just killing their body. But he said if you kill yourself, you're
killing the body and the soul. And that's a quote from Jesus where he says, Fear him
which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. And he said, and I'll read it
again, it says, and moreover, my brother, he's talking to him as a Christian, he's
saved in the story, thou talkest of ease in the grave, but hast thou forgotten that
hell whither for certain the murderers go, for no murderer hath eternal life, et cetera.
Now look, is that the truth? Is that salvation by grace through faith, eternal security,
once they go? We say no. You know, there's a man in the Bible named King Saul,
and he killed himself. The Bible says that he was in a battle with the Philistines,
he was losing the battle, and he fell on his sword. You know, he laid his sword in front of
him and fell on it in order to commit suicide. And yet the Bible clearly states
that he went to heaven because he was saved. You can't lose your salvation.
Another man who committed suicide, Samson. Samson committed suicide, and the Bible says
he went to heaven. Ahithophel was probably saved. The Bible doesn't say whether he
went to heaven or hell, but he killed himself. And so Saul and Samson both for sure went to
heaven, and they both for sure committed suicide. So this teaching's false. Once you're
saved, you're always saved. Did John Bunyan believe that God has given us eternal life?
No, he believed you must stay on the path and keep on going and endure to the end.
And if you commit suicide or even commit murder, he said, to any other advanced person,
God would take away your salvation and send you to hell. That's a lie. That's false doctrine.
I'm tired of pastors lifting up this leader and telling us he's our hero.
Why is this book being given to children to read in school? Why is this being taught
that it's Baptist doctrine? It's not. Now let's move on to Mark.