(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

All in all, our dear, healthy Father, please bless the service tonight. Bless our preacher, fill him with your Holy Ghost. In your name, Amen. Amen, good to see everybody back. It's good to see the Baptist bouncers are back. Missed seeing you guys back there. Great, great. So I'm preaching about eternal security tonight. The basic fundamental principles of eternal security. I know a lot of you are probably familiar. Maybe you understand the doctrine. Maybe you have your certain set of verses that you use. But I see sometimes a flaw where people get stuck on eternal security while they're giving the gospel out the door. Sometimes somebody will give a vague answer and that might trip you up. That trips people up all the time. So there's some things that I just want to share with you. Hopefully it will be a blessing to you. It will encourage you to know so that you can better defend it. Now the Bible says, and you don't have to turn there, but in Colossians 4 verse 6, what's your speech always with grace? Season with salt that you may know how you ought to answer every man. And that's a good verse. We ought to know how to answer all these people, especially these double tongue people that are around here. Because these guys are going to these churches and you're hearing two different gospels. The false one and what seems to be the legit one. And you know it can trip you up. When you talk with somebody you might think, wow, that guy sounds like he's saved and really he's not. People come in here and they think they're saved because they seem to give the right answers and then later on you find out that they aren't. And so that's what this sermon is designed to do is to help you out. I'll just give an example here. Two weeks ago we were at the store. Everybody's getting sick so I was looking for some vitamin C. It's right after church Wednesday night. I think Jessica was really sick and I had Kayden, Kylan, and Kaitlyn with me. We were looking for some vitamin C. So down the vitamin aisle, I'm like alright, I just want to hurry up and get this over with because I hate going to the store. So I hear this conversation take place. These two ladies begin to talk and they're like, oh you're a Christian? I'm a Christian too. It's so nice to run into another believer. This is great because you know how wicked the city is. And I'm looking at Kayden and he's looking at me and I'm like, a couple of liberals. I just had this thought that crossed my mind. If they came and talked to us, they'd probably end up in a fight. Which I tell the rest of the story. So she comes down the aisle and she sees me and I'm just like this. I probably have the same shirt on. I got a basket full of groceries and he's got one too. We don't know what we're doing at the store. And she's like, hey, do you guys work here? And I'm like, what? No, we don't work here. And she's like, oh, okay, I thought you might have worked here because you guys were dressed up. I was like, nope, it's alright. And she's like, gosh, you know where, you know, some vitamins, I don't know where anything's at. And so she's just like, you know, really pouring it on. Like, oh, praise God. Amen. You know, this kind of stuff. And I'm like, great, here it comes. You know, and she's like, you guys are dressed so nice. And you guys go to church. I'm like, yeah, we go to church. And you know, one thing leads to another. And I can't remember what she said. I was like, this might be a good time to preach the gospel. I mean, I'm thinking like, okay, God sent this woman here for a reason. This is going to go good. I'm like, hey. Oh, that's right. She tells me she's about to, she was going to die of cancer 12 years ago. 12 years ago. That's what it was. Right. Yeah. She's like, yeah, I survived cancer. I'm like, wow. You know, so I'm thinking like, man, maybe, you know, I can get her saved. She's a cancer survivor. You know, it was meant for this moment. And, you know, so I begin the soloing process. I'm like, well, hey, you know, you've been going to church for a long time. Are you a hundred percent sure you're on your way to heaven? It's like, oh yes, I've been saved. I've been washed in the blood, you know, just got my hands out and stuff. And I'm like, oh, okay. And she's like, yeah, I'm saved. I already know that. I'm on my way. I was like, great. I was like, what are you trusting in to get you there? And she's like, Jesus. I'm like, okay. You know, that's a pretty, pretty common answer. Right. And she goes, says something else. And then I was like, well, hey, let me ask you this. Do you think it's possible for a Christian to lose their salvation? Like say if they backslide, you know, get into sin. And she goes, she goes, oh, see, that's what I don't know. And I was like, okay, well, hey, what do you think you have to do to be saved? She's like, well, so it's a free gift and you just have to believe. And I'm like, okay. And I'm like, so you see, you've been saved. You believe the gospel. And I was like, but again, what else? So what happens if you're saved, you believe, but she goes, well, you'll probably go to hell if you don't ask for forgiveness. I'm like, okay, so you're saved by maintaining a relationship. Yeah, that's it. By maintaining that relationship. That's what I meant to say. I was like, okay, then it's a lot of work to maintain a relationship, right? And she's like, yes, it is. I was like, okay, so you're saved by works. And she's like, yes. And then she's like, I was like, you just told me it was a free gift. And she's like, yeah, I did though. And I was like, yeah, you did. She's like, well, I just, I just don't know. And she goes, but anyways, she cuts me off and she goes, where do you go to church? This is no joke. I said, I go to Verity Baptist church. And she goes, whoa. Like she, she freaks out. She jumps back about five feet. She looks at me like this. I'll never forget it. She tilts her head like this. And I'm like, huh, I didn't even do it. And it's really weird. It was like this weird thing. And she's like, like growling at us. Oh no. I'm like, you ever heard of Verity Baptist church? She's like, oh dude, she got me. I'm like, wow. And she's like, yeah. I was like, okay, what have you heard about it that kind of caused that reaction? And she's just like, huh? I'm like, we got to get out of here. But I was like, I was like, no, I need to finish this. And I was like, hey, look, let me just share some Bible verses with you. I go, Ephesians chapter two. She's like, no, I know what the Bible says. And she's like talking with this deep voice. I know what the Bible says. And she goes, and anyway, you're not filled with the spirit. You've never spoke with tongues. I can tell. I'm like, whoa, okay. I ran into a Pentecostal demon. That's what's going on here, you know? She's like, you're not filled with the spirit. I can tell you're not filled with the Holy Ghost. The Bible says you've got to speak in tongues. That's evidence of salvation. I was like, where at? She's like, I don't know. Like she flipped another switch. Now she's like, oh, I don't know. I'm like, so who told you that? She's like, I don't know. I go to the Catholic church. I got a broad range. I go to Calvary Christian Center. It's a Pentecostal garbage church. It doesn't matter. And she goes to a Catholic church. So she's getting both of those. She's like, but they're both so similar in nature. When I'm at Calvary, I don't know that I'm not in the Catholic church. When I'm in the Catholic church, I don't know that I'm not in Calvary. And I'm like, okay, so I figured I'd try one more time, right? That second or maybe by now it's the third admonition. And she gives me both these answers again. And she just freaks out. She's like, you're not, you're not speaking in tongues. You don't even understand that. And I was like, I was like, look, the tongue, the tongue in the Bible is either the organ in your mouth or it's another language. The only tongue that I speak is English. And that's not even very good. And she's like, she's getting beat red at this point because I'm like, look, we got to go. And she's, what does she do? She, she just starts like laughing. And she's like, oh, of course you got to go. And then she walks around the corner. And she's like, why don't you look it up in the Bible, Bible boy? And I was like, I was like, oh no. She goes, she goes, yeah, keep looking, keep searching for it, keep searching for it. And she walks around the corner and she goes, just in this really creepy voice, I'll never forget it. She goes, you'll never find it. Yeah, because it's not there. And she's just like, what? And I was like, let's go. So we quit looking for what we were, we just made a beeline for the cash register. And then of course, as I'm, you know, at the register, she comes up and she's like, oh, I hope I didn't offend you. I'm just not sure about the whole issue. I'd like to know more about it. I'm like, no, this conversation's over. We're going home, you know? But that's how people are. They've been trained. Well, okay, that's how, the whole point of that story is that she was able to give two answers. Like she gave me the right answer at first and I had to actually pry and finally get it out of her. But nonetheless, eternal security is what she was hung up on. And actually that's what cause her to slip out because that's the gospel, right? That Jesus Christ died and rose again for our sins and we're saved forever. There's nothing you can do to earn it. There's nothing you can do to maintain it. You're in Christ's hand, John chapter 10, done deal. Another quick example here. We got here Friday night, we went out to eat and I think I was wearing my Red Hot Preaching Conference t-shirts. The girl's like, oh, I really like your shirt. I'm like, oh great, you know? Yeah, you do. There's a church I began to talk about about church tour here. And she's like, oh, I go to Calvary Baptist Church and she told me where I was. Some of you guys may know where it's at. I don't know. I didn't get to finish preaching the gospel tour because we had to sit down. But I went and looked up their salvation statement and this is what it says for Calvary Baptist Church. It says salvation is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. You know, so if you were to say to that young woman, hey, you know, do you believe that salvation is offered freely to all those who accept Jesus Christ? Oh yeah, amen, I'm saved, yeah, that's what I'm trusting in. And you might think to yourself, okay, well she, this person's saved. But look at the rest of it. It says those whom God has accepted in Christ and sanctified by his Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace. Now, then it says, but will persevere to the end. See, that's the tricky part. That's the other side of the coin that these churches are teaching people. And of course I learned this is a Southern Baptist Church, completely Calvinist, completely Calvinist. And, you know, so it's important to understand this doctrine of eternal security because this is the type of doctrine that's being preached in these churches. This is how people are going to answer you, right, very vaguely. They're going to say the right answers, you know, oh yeah, we believe in Jesus. You know, but then they're going to come back, you know, as you pry with this other vague stuff like, oh, as long as you persevere to the end. Basically what they're saying is if you wind up backsliding like somebody like Saul did, that you were never really saved to begin with. And so that's their logic. And here's another kind of silly thing. I got this little answer to why fire trucks are red. I got this from a firefighter friend of mine, Brother Scott. And it says, now this here is just some logic on why people say fire trucks are red. It's kind of silly, but this is the exact same logic that you're going to get fed in most, just about, probably most churches in this area, in this country. It says, why are fire trucks red? Fire trucks have four wheels and carry eight men. Four plus eight is twelve. There are twelve inches and a roller. Queen Elizabeth was a roller. There was once a ship named Elizabeth that sailed the seas. Fish live in the seas. Fish have fins. People from Finland are called fins. Finland and Russia had a war a long time ago. Russia has red on its flag, and that's why they're red, because they're always rushing around. That's kind of silly, but that's kind of how doctrines talk today in these churches. You know, you just ask them, are you 100% sure? Oh yeah, I don't say it, I trust the Christ. Can you ever lose it? No. What if you're a backslider? Oh yeah. You said it was a free gift. Yeah, I did. I know. So which is it? I don't know. I just don't say it. I don't want you to go get out of here. You know, and that poem, that describes their thinking process, because they don't have the Word of God. They don't believe in the Word of God. They feel that they don't need it. But, you know, in order to properly defend eternal security, there's some things that you really need to know that you need to have settled and deep down in your heart. And that's it. You need to understand the Holy Spirit's role in salvation, you know, which we're going to talk about here in a minute. You need to be able to explain the difference between the new man and the old man. That's important. Because a lot of people get hung up on that. I don't understand, like, how could a guy like Saul make it to heaven? You know, that's just mind-blowing to people. They don't understand that. Or how could, you know, some of us could have, you know, some people in your family might be like, what are you saying? You know, I look better than you. I don't know. But anyways, nonetheless, I'm going to show you that you need to be able to understand how to explain the new man versus the old man. Because sometimes that helps. People get stuck on this issue. I mean, if you can bring that up, a lot of times that clears it up for people to be like, oh, okay, I get it, I get it. It's not the old man. It's not the plush that goes to heaven. It's the new man. You need to be able to quickly reference verses dealing with the subject. Now, this isn't a sermon on just a bunch of different verses that you can use. I do go over some of them. If anybody, you know, maybe wants some extra verses or some help with that, I'll be more than willing to help you. Give you some after the service. Another thing is in your daily Bible reading, you know, keep the subject in your mind. As you're reading through the Bible, these things will jump out at you. And the more you go soul-waning too, right? The more you go soul-waning, the more people you run into, the more questions they have, you're going to want to learn to answer them. And that's what's going to help you the most. So look down there in Ephesians chapter 1. Look down at verse number 13. It says, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. I really like this verse and sometimes I'll use it out soul-waning if somebody's really struggling with eternal security. And I just want to break this verse down here into three different parts. And so the first thing I want you to notice there, he says, in whom ye also trusted. Now look at this. After that ye heard the word of truth, the word of truth. You can keep your spot, keep a place there in Ephesians. We're going to come back to it a couple times throughout the sermon, but go back in your Bible to Acts chapter 15. Go to Acts chapter 15. We're going to talk about the Bible. The Bible's important role in salvation. Acts chapter 15. If somebody rejects the Bible, they don't believe the Bible, you're not going to get them saying that right now. I'm not saying that you shouldn't, you know, shouldn't try to preach the gospel or whatever, but you know, as you're going through the gospel with somebody and they're like, I agree with that. Yeah, I agree with that. You need to ask them also in addition to that, well, hey, do you believe this? Do you really believe this? There's a big difference between agreeing and believing. And that's going to make the difference from when you go knock on that person's door a year from now and you think you won them the Christ a year ago and they tell you, yeah, I'm a good person. I keep the commandments and you're going to be like, well, what the heck? When that happens, it's because they only agreed with it. They didn't believe it. So that's something that's very important. So Acts chapter 15, look at verse number seven. Acts chapter 15, verse number seven says, You see, it is important, it is imperative, you have to use the Bible. And it's not just enough to go up to somebody and just read these verses and walk away and think they're going to understand it. They're the natural man. They're not going to understand it. You have to actually explain it to them. You have to preach to them. And for further clarification, I don't have time now, but you can go back to Acts chapter two and read how Peter spoke. Read Peter's sermon that he gave, very powerful. Go one more book over to Romans chapter one. Romans chapter one. So we're talking about that part in Ephesians, right? Where it says that he heard the word of truth. He heard the word of truth. And that comes from God's word, the Bible. So Romans chapter one, verse 16 says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, not to the Jew more so than the Greek, but to both equally. You just got to say that because a dispensationalist would like to say to the Jew first, you're just lucky that you get the promise. But nonetheless, the verse says, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. And that's the gospel. The written word is imperative. You have to use it. Go to First Thessalonians chapter one. First Thessalonians chapter one. This one here is one that bothers a lot of people, especially the old eye of wheat. First Thessalonians chapter one. If you find those key books in your Bible there in the New Testament, they're all clustered together. First Thessalonians chapter one. Look at verse number five. First Thessalonians chapter one, verse five says, For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. Don't just gloss over these verses here. This is very important. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power. You see the gospel, the written word when it's preached is powerful. It has power. God's word is very powerful. And it says, and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. You can have that assurance when we're preaching this gospel that it is taking it back. Whether they get saved or not, you need to understand that it does pierce their hearts. It is having an effect on them. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost. And see, this is where the old IFB has an issue because this verse proves that people cannot get saved by just picking up the Bible and reading it. You're not going to get saved by picking up a Chick tract and just reading it. There's no power. There's no word in there. There's no preached word. And yeah, our church invitations have the gospel on them, right? That's to show, well it's for two reasons, right? It's to show people in the community what we believe. You know, they can read through that. Okay. You know, I get where they're coming from. And then number two is to help you as a soul owner. You know, say you have one in your pocket. You don't have the plan of salvation memorized. You know, you can always go off that invitation. I've seen people, one, from, you know, reading the verses off the invitation because they knew how to preach and how to explain the verses to them and how to go over all that. So the Bible says here, it says for our gospel came not unto you in word only, but in power. And that's from a saved man of God, a saved person preaching the gospel. You know, the VeggieTales, like I said this morning, they don't have the power. They don't have the power. That's not the word of God. Christian movies, Christian music. I had this guy tell me one time. There's this rock band, it's called Korn. One of the members of this band, Korn, I guess got saved is what they say. I can't remember what his name is, but this guy gets saved. Apparently he's a Christian, right? And he plays heavenly death metal or Christian. Yeah, heavenly death metal. That's what it's called. And this guy was telling me at work a while back, he's like, man, this guy is getting millions of people saved. He's reaching millions of people in this country with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Well, if you were to play it, I don't recommend doing this. But if you were to listen to that guy's music, you can't understand a word that he's saying. So how are these people going to get saved? It's just like... You know, that's all it is. It's a guy like grunting in a microphone. Just listen. Just listen to the little stuff. You know, if you're going to go all out, you might as well go all out. You know what I mean? That stuff is garbage. That verse we just read in 1 Thessalonians disproves that because the gospel comes by preaching the word. There's no word being preached in that music. That's just trash. Turn to 1 Peter, chapter 1. 1 Peter, chapter 1. Keep going toward Revelation. 1 Peter, chapter 1. You can go past Hebrews, James. 1 Peter, chapter 1. 1 Peter, chapter 1. Look at verse number 21. 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 21. It says, Just read that verse again. 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 22. Seeing that you have purified your souls in obeying the truth. That goes right back to what we read in Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 13. That the Holy Spirit, what he's saying there is the Holy Spirit seals you when you get saved. Right? Seeing that your soul has been purified. Now look at verse 23. Being born again. See, he's explaining this concept, which we're going to talk about in a minute. Being born again. And it says, And it says, That's how you're saved. You're not going to get saved out of something that's been corrupted. You're not going to bring something clean from something unclean. The Bible doesn't teach that. That's wrong. I don't care what you say. It's just not true. I mean, at some point we've got to draw the line. We've got to make a decision. Are we going to believe what the Bible says? Or are we going to believe our experiences and our emotions and other people's testimonies? You know, I mean, you really do have to draw the line somewhere. And the Bible says right here, Being born again, not of corruptible seed, not out of the NIV, not out of the ESV, not out of all these other V's that are out there, but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. And then in verse 24 it says, For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. Verse 25, But the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word by which the gospel is preached unto you. So again, I just wanted to make that point that the Bible is very important. It is the only tool that you can use to get somebody saved. It's the preached word of God. That's what he's saying there in Ephesians chapter one. So number two, if you want to go back to Ephesians chapter one, look at verse 13 again, it says, In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. But I want to focus on this phrase here. He says, Ye also trusted. So right there in the beginning of the verse it says, In whom ye also trusted. We want to talk about that right now. So keep your place there again, but go to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. The first thing we saw in the verse is the power of the word. The power of the written word preached to people to get saved. And that's what's going to keep them. That is what keeps us saved. So Romans chapter 10, look at verse 9. A lot of you probably have this memorized. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. You see, what's important there, he doesn't say thou shalt eventually be saved. He says, thou shalt be saved. You're saved the moment you decide to put your trust on the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice it's a choice. He says that if. Now look at verse 10. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And I didn't write this down, but obviously you know Romans chapter 3 verse 10 says, As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. So it begs the question, how do we get righteousness? If none of us are righteous, then how do we get it? Well, he tells you right here that righteousness is a gift from God. We're going to go a little further in depth in that here in a minute. Verse number 11. For the scripture saith whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. And that's a big slap in the face to those that are teaching that you can go to hell for the millennium. I don't know how many of you have heard that, but that's being taught today over in New York by the Flat Earth Church over there. They don't say how many sins you have to commit, but apparently if you're backslidden Christian and you die, you go to hell for the millennium. You go to hell for a thousand sins. So that is the opposite of what the Bible teaches. That's garbage. Because it says right here, for the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Well, if I believe on him and then I go to hell for the millennium, well that's a shame. I mean, do you guys laugh at me if I went to hell for the millennium? I would laugh at you guys if that was true, but it's not. It says, for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is wretched to all that call upon Him, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So remember, we're talking about whom ye also trust, placing our trust in Christ. And like I said, the point that I want to make there is choice. This isn't a Calvinist church, it says that. If thou should confess thy mouth, it says you're saved. It's a done deal. Look, I don't have a New King James up here, which we'll probably say. I think it does say in some spots who is being saved. That's not what it teaches. The moment you trust Christ, you're saved forever. I mean, think about it. Could you imagine a fireman pulling a guy out of a burning building and then saying, all right, let me just interview you here real quick. Do you promise to pay your bills on time? Do you promise to not play with matches anymore? Do you promise to do this? Do you promise to wash my car? Do you promise to shine my shoes? And then if you don't, I'm going to throw you back into the fire. That doesn't make any sense. No fireman would do that. And God's not like that either. Once you're saved, you're always saved. Now point number three here is that we are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise of you. If you want to take a look back at Ephesians chapter one verse 13, we'll just focus on the last part of that verse where it says you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. And again, that's another problem for, that's a problem for all Christianity. That is a problem for Doka and his going to hell for one garbage. It says you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. And that begs the question, well, okay. It says that you're sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. Well, how long are you sealed then? I've had somebody ask me that. Okay, I see that you're sealed, but how long is that seal good for? You know, and you need to be able to answer that. If you're to ask Ray Comfort or Tim Conway, and I've heard them both say this, that seal, they'll teach you this. They'll teach that seals were made to be open, made to be broken. Right? And so the Christian is not going to repent of their sins. You know, God might just decide to open that up. And then what? Then you have to get reset. You know what's funny is that when you see these people like Ted Haggard and the faggot that he is and all these other TV evangelists, when they get in trouble, when they get caught being pedophiles and doing all their wicked, you know, false prophet garbage that second Peter two and Jew talks about, you know, when they get caught doing that, nobody ever says, Oh, you know, they lost her. They lost her salvation, right? They never say that. They just say, Oh, I'm falling from grace. Don't know. I know. I know we've taught that before, but no, no, I'm still saved. It's still give me your money, you know? And that's that's just the state of the world that we live in today. That's what's being taught. But nonetheless, they're false prophets are really just after your soul. But yeah, you know, Ray Comfort, Paul washes another one. They will teach that. Oh, you're sealed until you really mess up. You're sealed until you backslide. You're sealed until I say that you're not saved anymore. Now turn to Ephesians chapter four, verse 30. Because if you're going to show somebody Ephesians chapter one, verse 13, it's a good idea to know in your Bible to go to Ephesians chapter four, 30, because the question could come up. I mean, you're dealing with people that are just being taught such garbage. They're being trained cleverly on how to answer you incorrectly, so that you'll walk away from their door and go home thinking, okay, I guess they're all right. You know, but we don't we don't want to just stop there. We want to know this stuff like the back of our hands. So Ephesians chapter four, verse 30. It says, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. Now don't mess this, whereby ye are sealed until the day of redemption. Now has that day happened? No, it hasn't. The day of redemption has not happened yet. So it says you are sealed until the day of redemption. Not until the next time you sin, not until the next time you're late with your rent or your car payment, or the next time you backslide and listen to music or watch a movie, or whatever Paul Washer or Ray Comfort or John MacArthur want to say, the Bible says that you are saved, that you are sealed until the day of redemption. That's it. And that's, you know, and amen for that, because none of us would make it. None of us would be going to heaven. Yeah, exactly. And so I just wanted to explain that. So go back to Ephesians chapter one. We're going to read verse 13 one more time. And then verse 14. So it says, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, so right after your belief, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. And then we already looked at how long that is. Look at verse 14, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the day, I'm sorry, until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. Now, the Bible says that that is the earnest of our inheritance, that God is so serious about sealing you until the day of redemption that he's put earnest down. That's the Holy Spirit. He has put that down. He's put that in your heart, in your life as earnest money. You ever heard of putting earnest money on a house, meaning that you're serious that you want to buy that house? Well, that's what God's done by giving you the Holy Ghost, by giving you the Holy Spirit. And again, just another avenue of approach that you can use to explain to somebody that they are saved forever. And notice that it says in verse 14, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. If you back up to verse 13, the last word of verse 13 is promise. Now, here's a verse that I think everybody should highlight and at least have ready to go in your Bibles for so many. And that's Titus 1, 2, which says, in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. You're going to find that word a lot, promise. So you need to understand and you need to be able to explain to people that our hope for eternal life is, number one, that God promised it to us, right? And that God cannot lie. And then he even promised it to us before the world began. And that's a very powerful thing that you can show somebody. And a lot of times I'll get it. Of course, you're right, God can't lie. What am I thinking? And it is great when you can go the extra mile and really understand these things and explain it to people. Because you know what? The devil's getting smart. He knows that we're out there knocking these doors. And these false teachers, the Bible says in Psalms that these people, they sharpen their tongues, right? It's not just us that study. These false teachers, they study what we're doing. They're going to send their people here. And we've talked about this before. They're going to send their people here. They're sending them to other churches like ours to find out what it is we teach, how we believe, how we interact with one another. And they're going to adjust their teachings accordingly to try to trip us up. I mean, if I was the devil, that's what I would do. I would try to creep in and figure out what's going on so that I could sabotage and do that. And you know the devil wants to drag as many people to hell with him as he can. And that's one way he's going to do it, by confusing people so much that when you knock on their doors or you run into them in the grocery store, I mean, they're just a mess. You know, it's just a mess. It's just you've really got to work hard sometimes to get through to people. And that's what this is for. So Titus 1, 2, in hope of eternal life, which God cannot lie, promise before the world began. And like I said, the Bible says that you are sealed until the day of redemption. Go to John chapter 3, John chapter 3. Another important thing to be able to defend this doctrine of eternal security is that you really need to understand what happens the moment you trust Christ. The Bible calls on becoming born again. We read about that in 1 Peter. You know, it says being born again, not a corruptible seed. So let's take a look at that here. Let's take a look at what it means when we're born again. John chapter 3, look at verse number 3. John chapter 3, verse 3. It says, Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, I still haven't heard how dispensationalist you're going to answer that. I mean, that's pretty clear. I mean, think about it. Jesus is in the wrong dispensation here, right? And he's teaching that you have to be born again. And obviously it's not a word. But look at verse number 4. I got to get out of there. Verse number 4 says, Nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? You know, so Nicodemus, he's just completely confused about the subject. Kind of like when you go to the door and, you know, people are like, you've got to be saved. Like, I thought I was saved. Or, what do you mean? You know, I've got to get reborn again? I've got to, you know. And sometimes people tell you that. They'll be like, I got saved. I've been saved three times. Yeah, I've been saved three, four times. And it's like, no, no, no, you don't understand. Look at verse 5. Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Verse 6, that which is born of flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Then he says, marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. So Jesus is teaching him here. He's like, hey, look, you know, there's a difference between being born in the flesh and being born of the Spirit. And I want to show you what that means. Go to Hebrews chapter 4, Hebrews chapter 4. So what are we talking about right now? We're talking about being born again. As simple as this sounds, you need to really be able to understand what I'm about to show you. You've got to understand this. What does it mean to be born again? Because I mean, hey, look, Nicodemus was a teacher of the law. He was a teacher in Judah. And Jesus is like, you know, you're a teacher. You don't know these things. And look at the answer that he gave. Go to Hebrews chapter 4 and look down at verse number 12. Hebrews 4, 12. The Bible reads in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12. It says, for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Again, we've already kind of talked about that. Now look at this next part. Piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. So let's just unpack this for a second here. We know that the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, right? And we're talking about being born again. So this verse here is teaching you how the word of God actually causes somebody to be born again. Now look, look at that word piercing there. It says, piercing even to the dividing asunder. What does that mean, asunder? In half. So he says, piercing even to the dividing asunder. So it divides in half the soul and spirit together, right? Soul and spirit. And then there's a comma there and there's a distinction. So you got soul and spirit. So what is the Bible cutting in half right now? It's not cutting the soul and the spirit in half. It's cutting soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow. What that's talking about, what that's saying, is that when you preach the Bible in somebody, you preach the gospel into somebody and they decide to believe it, the Holy Spirit comes inside you and severs you, severs that old man, the joints and marrow, that represents the flesh, cuts that away from your spirit and your flesh. Because you remember, everybody that's born, you have your flesh, right? You have the old man, you have your body, you have your soul, which is, yeah, you have your soul and then you have your spirit. Everybody has a spirit that's alive, the spirit of man. I'm not saying everybody has the Holy Spirit, but you have your own spirit. And the Bible is making a distinction here that when you get saved, the word of God cuts in half your soul and spirit and separates that, separates your soul and spirit from the joints and marrow, from your body. Okay, that's very important. Now, go to Proverbs chapter 20. Go to Proverbs chapter 20, right after Psalms, go to Proverbs chapter 20. Obviously isn't something you can see, but the Holy Ghost comes inside and separates your spirit and your soul from your body. And what I'm leading into is that's creating the new man. So Proverbs chapter 20, look at verse number 27. Like I said before, you need to understand what the spirit of man is. The Bible tells you right here. Proverbs 20, 27 says, the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. Searching all the inward parts of the belly. So somebody asks you, hey, what's the difference between the Holy Spirit and your spirit? You can say the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. Now go one book over to Ecclesiastes. Go to Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and verse seven. Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and verse seven. So Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verse seven says, Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. One more time. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. So you see that when you read Hebrews chapter four, verse 12, the word of God came in and segregated it, cut in half your body and turned that into the old man and then separated the new man, which is now your spirit and your soul, and made them and quickened them together. And that's what's born again. That's what can't send anymore. That's what goes to heaven. So for example, Bible teaches this right here. It says that if you die, like I said, we all have body, soul and spirit. If you die, unsaved, you just die unsaved. Your body goes into the ground. Your spirit goes back to God who gave it and your soul goes to hell. No in between. It's not for the millennium. It's not for the millennium. That's what happens. Because that spirit's going back to God one way or the other. The spirit doesn't go to hell. Hell's not full of a bunch of the spirit of man because the Bible says that the spirit is the candle of the Lord. The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. So when you die unsaved, the person's spirit goes back to God. And this is important. It goes back to God. The flesh goes into the ground to seek corruption. The soul goes into hell. Now what happens when you're saved and you quote, unquote, die? Well, your spirit has been quickened alive with your soul together. That goes up to heaven to await the new body and then the flesh just decays. It's just the old man dies. We're going to look at that here. Go to 2 Corinthians 5. We're going to talk about that now, the old man and the new man. So John 3, Hebrews 4 gives us some deep insight on how somebody's born again. What does it mean when someone's born again? It means that, yeah, we still see the old man. We still walk in the flesh, but we have the new man. And I just want to show you some verses on that. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. It doesn't say he's becoming a new creature. It says he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Now this is a true fact. Modern Bible versions change this here. And they don't say are become new. They say are becoming new. And that's because they believe that you have to repent of your sins to be saved, that you have to continuously work and maintain that relationship. And so it's no wonder that their books are going to say that. But read the verse again. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Now it should make a lot more sense when we read this verse with the understanding, OK, it's because the old man was severed by the word of God. And my spirit and soul have been quickened together and separated. That's what it's talking about there. You know, I had a pretty good old IFB pastor. This guy was a good preacher. He believed the right gospel. But even he would say, you would read this verse in sermons, and he would say, see, all things are becoming new. And you guys are doing this and doing that. And it was his way of trying to motivate people. But it's not correct to say that because the Bible says all things are become new. When you're saved, you got the new man. You got the new man, and that man doesn't sin. You don't have to turn there. I'm just going to read Ephesians chapter 4, verse 22, which says that he put off concerning the former conversation of the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust. And then Colossians chapter 3, verse 9 says, lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds. You see these verses in the Bible and the New Testament. You're going to read this a lot, the old man versus the new man. What am I trying to say here? I'm trying to say that we all have a choice every day which man we're going to walk in. When you roll out of bed, when your alarm clock goes off, tomorrow, you got a choice. Am I going to put on the new man? Am I going to walk in that new man that I know I have? Or am I going to continue to sin and just not obey the preaching, not obey the word of God, and just walk in the flesh? And this is exactly what's going on here. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 24 says that he put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. And that's something that you can explain to people. See, when you have that good understanding of the soul, the spirit, and the body, you know, and you can kind of, you can go over that with people. I've had people be like, oh, I get it, I get it. That makes so much sense. Now these are rare occasions, right? It's not all the time that you have to have to go into detail like this, but it's important for you, for all of us to understand this stuff. You may not need it every day, but you got to have this, because this is foundational. These are just basic verses here that we need to understand. I'm going to read for you Romans chapter 7, verse 22, which says, for I delight in the law of God after the inward man. Your inward man desires the law of God. It desires preaching. It desires the reading of God's word. It desires prayer and meditation and all that stuff. Let's see here. One more. Second Corinthians chapter 4, verse 16 says, for which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. See, that's another reason that we can know we have eternal security is because our inward man is renewed day by day by God. The outward man is going to go. It's going to die. You can't stop it. Even if you're fortunate enough to live until the tribulation happens. Let's say you're one of the last men standing, the last women standing, and you're caught up into the heavens and you're changed in an instant. I mean, that would be great, but you're still, that flesh is going to be changed. It's not going into heaven. I'm going to show you that here in a moment. I want to take a look at just a few problems with the teaching that you could lose your salvation. Go to First Corinthians chapter 15. First Corinthians chapter 15. Here's the big problem with it. First Corinthians chapter 15. Look at verse number 15. It says, now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither does corruption inherit incorruption. I mean, look at that. The Bible says that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Your body, your old man is not going to go into heaven. So no matter how much you trust on your works and your body and your old man, it's not going to do you any good as far as salvation is concerned. Yes, we should strive to follow the commandments and do a good job in all that stuff I talked about this morning. Yes, that is important, but not for salvation. Your salvation is totally dependent on you trusting 100% on the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's a dumb deal because God has severed that new man from the old man, and that's how you can know for sure. I've shown people this before that were just so stuck on the repent of your sins. They were like, oh, yeah, you're right. It does say the flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. So it's like, well, okay, so you trusting in your works, how is that going to get your body into heaven? I don't know. So I'm just saying, sometimes this type of stuff can help. Look at verse 51. It says, Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, in the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Look, the old man's going to die no matter what, and we have to be changed. That's what's being taught here. And that's another reason how we can know that we have eternal security. Once saved, always saved. It's the new man. Let's see, look here at verse number 54. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Death is swallowed up in victory. And that's a great verse there. It's a great saying. That's something that you might be able to show somebody. Now look at verse 55. O death, where's thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But, verse 57, but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. God cannot fail. God cannot lie. And that's how we can know that we have eternal security. That's how we know it's a done deal. Once saved, always saved. Look at verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Let that encourage you that your labor is not in vain. Sometimes you're going to go through periods where you don't see anyone saved for a long time. You know what? That labor that you're doing is not in vain. It's not. You're still getting rewarded for that. Right? We call it soul warning. A lot of times, you know, we get stuck in these rich neighborhoods for weeks and weeks and weeks, we don't see anybody saved. But hey, you're still soul warning. You're still out there letting them know. They've got no excuse. They have no excuse to begin with. But the fact that you knocked on the door and you tried to tell that person, that's just like a double whammy, man. They have no excuse at all. Real quick here. Almost done. Problem number two. You can't earn your salvation, so what makes you think? You can earn it or keep it by maintaining a relationship. Go to Romans chapter four. Romans chapter four. Romans chapter four. Romans chapter four. Romans chapter four. Only verse number one says, what shall we say then that Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh hath found. For if Abraham were justified by words, he has were up to glory, but not before God. And that should be said about every single one of us. You know, and people need to be shown this. You've got to know, you just need to know. It's like time stables, you know? You just got to know four times 4-16. Well, you've got to just know that Romans chapter four is the divine or the godly righteousness chapter. You've just got to know that. to memorize that. Look at verse 2. For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath wept to glory, but not before God. Verse 3. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward, not reckoned of grace, but of death. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly. Look at this. His faith is counted for righteousness. Remember, as it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. So how do you get righteousness? It's a gift from God. Very simple. Very simple to understand. Chapter after chapter, verse after verse, and the Bible teaches that. Look at verse number 6. This here just blows a lot of people out of the water, especially dispensationalists. Look at this. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God impudeth righteousness without works. So why would David say there's a group of people that are blessed when God doesn't impute unto them their sins, but imputes unto them righteousness without works, if they were saved by works and faith in the Old Testament? It doesn't make any sense, because it's not true. It's not true. Romans chapter 4 destroys dispensationalism. 100%. Look at verse number 7. Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Now look, Paul here is, you know, writing to the Romans, quoting David. And David was preaching these things back in the Old Testament, back way back down there on those old dispensations. You know, maybe David was mixed up too on dispensationalism. Look at verse 8. Blessed is the man whom the Lord will not impute sin. Verse 9. Cometh his blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also. For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. So look, you don't have to know all these verses to get somebody eternal security. Just try off the badges. Just make sure you make it a point to know that if you need help, you can go to Romans chapter 4, and just start reading. And it'll come back to you. These words will just come right back to you. Romans chapter 4. Somebody's like, really hung up on eternal security? Romans chapter 4. Problem number 3 is that, what we've already been talking about, the new man cannot sin. So you're in Romans 4, just go over a few chapters of Romans chapter 7. Almost done. I'm trying to hurry here. I know it went a little long this morning. Last problem. The last problem with this that I'm gonna go over is that the new man cannot sin. The new man cannot sin. This is another chapter you need to know to go to right off the bat. Look down at verse number 15. Romans 7 and 15. Look at what Paul says. It says, for that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. That's all of us. Look at verse number 16. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Now pay attention to that in verse 17 there. It says, now it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. It's important to know where to go for that verse, because some people are gonna get hung up on 1 John chapter 3, and they're gonna say, well the Bible says that, you know, if you have sin, that you're not saved, that you don't know God. And you need to be able to explain to them this verse. It says, now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. What he's saying there is not me. It's not the new man that's sinning. It's the old man. So you gotta be able to make that distinction there, because that's gonna help people understand this doctrine. So you can lose your place there. Go to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. Towards the end of the New Testament there. 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. So look at verse number 5. 1 John chapter 3 verse 5 says, and ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sinner. 1 John chapter 3 verse 6. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Now you'd better bet, you can bet that the liberals know this verse. They do. They know this verse, and they'll come at you with it. So you need to be able to go back to Romans chapter 7, Romans chapter 4, and be able to explain to them the new man versus the old man. You know, it's not I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. It's the old man. So they'll say, yeah whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth has not seen him, neither known him. They'll say, see, you got to repent of your sins otherwise you're not getting saved. That's not what it's teaching. Look at verse 7. Little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committed sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. Verse 9, whosoever is born of God does not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he's born of God. Verse number 9, so when they take you to 1st John chapter 3 verse 6, you need to know the answer to their question, their hypocritical question, is in verse 9, right? Because what does it say? Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he's born of God. He's born again, and we already went over that in John chapter 3, Hebrew chapter 4, right? We talked about the distinction between the new man and the old man, and that's it. That's the whole point of the sermon, just being able to explain the difference between the new man and the old man. A lot of times that will clear up eternal security for people. Not always. Look, some people just aren't gonna believe, you know, and then, you know, when you're out there soul-winding, and you're trying, and they're just not getting it, you know, there comes a point where you just gotta walk away. You know, how nice, you know, come visit us sometime, you know, pray for you, you know, whatever. Maybe you come to church and the second, third, fourth, fifth time they hear it, maybe they'll get saved, you know. Some people just don't get it right away, but nonetheless, we don't want to waste our time arguing with people, but we do need to be smarter than that, and we have the answers right here. We have the answers in this book, and this book, you hide these words in your heart, you know where to go, that's gonna help your soul-winding. That's gonna take you to the next level. That's gonna help you destroy these false doctrines that are being taught. It's the old man that sins, not the new man. And then the last person I want to read for you here, and I'm done. 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 15 says, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. And that kind of ties in with what I was talking about this morning, you know. We want to be able to give these answers with meekness. We want to be humble and rather talk with people, right? We will want to do it in fear. We want to trans, we want to be able to project that fear of God that we have into other people, right? Because what did we learn this morning? And when we do that, it produces results. And that's what this verse here is saying. We need to be able to answer every man and show them these things with meekness and fear. And so hopefully this was somewhat of a help to you, you know. It's a good idea to know this stuff. I know it can get a little confusing, you know, flipping all these different verses, but it's necessary. This is church. This is Bible study. This is necessary for our growth. All of us need to know this stuff. So let's pray and be in business. Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity you gave to preach. I just pray you bless this church, Lord, help it grow and thrive and grow in grace, knowledge, and truth. And I do thank you for it and all the wonderful things that go on here, Lord. And please keep us safe as we travel to and from home and work this week, Lord, and bring us back ready to learn next week. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.