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Amen. All right, look down at your Bibles at Hebrews chapter number 10, verse number 37. It says, For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. And the title of the sermon this morning is Eternal Security versus Losing Your Salvation. Eternal security versus losing your salvation. Now I love Hebrews chapter 10, specifically verses 37 through 39, because I believe this is a very clear portion of scripture that teaches us that you cannot lose your salvation. Why is that? Well, look at verse 38. It says, Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw back. What does that mean when you draw back? In other words, you backslide, right? When you draw back, you draw back from church, you draw back from Bible reading, you draw back from living for God, you just get away from the Lord. And the word the Bible uses this term backsliding, you're going backwards, you're not going forwards. If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. What is that referring to? Well, it's referring to the fact that people who are Christians, people who are saved, if they backslide, they're not living a life that's pleasing unto the Lord. They're not pleasing God. Why? Because the Bible tells us that if we love him, we should keep his commandments, right? And one of the commandments that he gives us is to be in church, to read the Bible, to get sin out of our lives. But if we don't do that, the Bible says we're drawing back and we're not pleasing the Lord. Now look what it says in verse 39, but we are not of them who draw back unto perdition. What does that mean? We're not those that when you draw back, you go into perdition, which is another word for hell, damnation. You know, there's people who believe that. You say, well, if you get out of church, if you don't do the things of God, you lost your salvation, you're going to go into perdition. A crowd who is notorious for teaching such a false doctrine are the Pentecostal charismatic movement, right? They'll teach you, man, you got to remain in church. Don't drink beer, don't smoke weed, don't fornicate, stay in church, because if you don't, you'll draw back into perdition. Well, here it says we're not of them who draw back into perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Now we'll get back to that portion of the scripture in just a little bit. Go with me if you want to Galatians chapter number one. Now when we refer to the doctrine of eternal security, we're talking about where the Bible specifically teaches that once we're saved, we're always saved. There's nothing we can do to lose our salvation. It's a foundational teaching that salvation is permanent. It cannot be taken away. It cannot be given up, and it cannot be forfeited. Our salvation is secure forever and can never be relinquished. Why? Because it's not something that's based upon our effort. It's not something that's based upon our works, based upon the things that we do. It's based upon the fact that we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, okay? This doctrine is very fundamental to our church, and this is something that our church holds to very strongly, to the point that, look, we want to make sure that whoever comes through these doors, we want to make sure that they're saved. We want to make sure that they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but they also believe that it can never be lost. You see, eternal security is not just a part of the gospel presentation. It is the gospel presentation. It is the gospel. Why? Because we believe in eternal life. What does eternal mean? It means you can never lose it. It means it's life that never stops. It's life that continues on forever. That's why it's called everlasting life, eternal life. This is the gospel. Now, the reason why this is important is because there are many that teach a works-based salvation. What is a works-based salvation? We hear that often. What is that? Well, this is a salvation that requires the effort, obedience, or capitulation of oneself in order to get salvation or to maintain it, okay? Now, without a shadow of a doubt, look, at the end of the day, there's two types of religions in this world, right? There's the right religion, and then there's the wrong religion. Now, you say, well, no, there's all different denominations of Christianity. Yeah, but there's only one right one, okay? And the right one is the one that teaches the right way of salvation. You say, well, what if someone says that they're Christian, they believe in the right Jesus, they're King James only, but they just believe in repenting your sins. They're wrong. What if they believe they're King James only, they got the right kind of music, they part your hair, they're hair like you, brother Mejia, and they sing all the hymns, but they believe that you got to continue to work, because if you don't, you were never saved in the first place, then they're wrong. What if they're Reformed Baptists, then they're really unsaved, okay? This is a false doctrine. Now look at Galatians 1, verse 6, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another. So it's saying there, look, I'm shocked that you guys would be carried away with another gospel, which by the way, is not another. What he's saying is that there's only one gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. What does that mean? To pervert means to twist. So in other words, there's another gospel out there that has a little bit of truth, but it's twisted, it's perverted, it has lies in there that's mixed with truth, but it's enough lies to damn you to hell. Obviously an unsaved person. Look at verse number 8, but though we, or an angel from heaven, Mormons, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Now let that sink in your ears for just a second. He's specifically saying there, if there's someone, whether it's an angel, whether it's a person who claims to be a pastor, or in his case, an apostle, if anybody preaches another gospel and then the gospel that we see in the Bible, they're damned. Because accursed means damned. You know what that means? The people who come knock on your doors, the J-dubs, you know, the false Jehovah's Witnesses, the Mormons, you know, whatever else people come to knock on your doors, those are the two main camps that really go door knocking though. The Bible says they're damned. Paul says, let them be accursed. He said, well, you know, I don't know, man, I think we should just win them to the Lord. Here's the thing though, Paul said, let them be accursed. He says that what they're doing is wicked, that they're perverting the gospel, why? Because they're making it their full time job to damn people to hell. I mean, how wicked can you be? And in case you missed it the first time, look at verse number nine, as we said before, so say now again, if any man preach any of the gospel unto you than that you have received, let him be accursed. So remember, when God says something once, it's important, when he says it twice, it's really important. He goes, in case you didn't hear me the first time, I'm saying it again, if anybody preaches a different gospel than the one that you have received, let him be accursed. Now go to chapter two, you see, no matter how you wrap it, work salvation is work salvation. Whether you say, well, it's not works, you just have to repent of your sins. That's works. Well, it's not works. We're just saying that if you don't work, you just weren't ever saved to begin with. That's works. Or we're not saying, you know, we're just saying you have to keep the law because Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. Yeah. He says, if you love me, keep my commandments. He didn't say, you know, if you're saved, keep my commandments or else you're not saved. He just saying, if you love me, you're going to keep these commandments. Okay. Look at Galatians two verse 16. This is very popular. It'll say we have to do good works in order to be saved. Was that true? Look what it says in verse 16, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law. Don't understand this. The word justified basically means you're exonerated, right? You're basically forgiven, justified. A good way to remember that is this, just as if I'd never sinned. So in order to be justified by God, the Bible tells us here that it's not a work of the works of the law. So guess what? Keeping the 10 commandments to be saved goes out the window. Keeping any commandments right, goes out the window. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. No matter what dispensation you're in, whether Old Testament, New Testament, you cannot be justified by the works of the law. Now why is that? It's because the law was there according to Galatians as our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. You see, the law exists specifically to show us that we're sinners. Why? Because a person cannot keep the whole law. The Bible tells us that whosoever keepeth the whole law, yet offended one point, he's guilty of all. So the law was there to be our schoolmaster to help us to recognize, oh man, I'm a sinner. I can't get my way to heaven. I can't keep all these commandments. I've broken these. And in light of that, you seek a savior, right? Which is Jesus Christ. So the law was never meant to save anybody. The law was there to show you that you are in need of a savior. Go to Ephesians chapter number two. So it tells us for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Now why is it that no flesh can be justified by the works of the law? Other than the fact that we understand that the law is our schoolmaster? Well, for one, because we're all sinners. The Bible says there's none that doeth good, no, not one. As it is written, there's none righteous, no, not one. What does it mean to be righteous? It means to do right all the time. That means someone who keeps God's laws perfectly all the time. And you will not find one human being on this earth who has ever done that. And if they claim that they do that, then they already broke the law because they're lying, right? The Bible says there's not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sin is not, right? Look what it says in Ephesians two verse eight. This is a great verse here. For by grace are you saved through faith and look what it says here and that not of yourself. You see within every human being, they feel that there's something within them that they have to do to get to heaven, right? That they have to be a good person. No, you have to go to church. You got to stop sinning. You got to do all these things. You got to live a righteous life, live a life that's pleasing unto God. Well here it says it's not of yourself. It is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. So the Bible is telling us that after we're saved, guess what we should do? We should work, but it doesn't mean we will. You see there's a big difference between what we must do to be saved, right? And the things that we should do as Christians. What must I do to be saved? Believe I'm Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And then we have works to do after that, but if you don't work, you're still saved. Go with me to Romans chapter 11, I'm going to read to you from Titus 3 verse 5, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. This is an important doctrine. This is something that we need to talk about on a monthly basis, on a yearly basis to make sure that people understand that our stance on salvation is this, it's eternal. It can never be lost and we reject all other forms of this so-called salvation. Another gospel as the Bible puts it. Now here's the thing people will say, well, I believe it's by faith alone too. I believe it's by grace as well. I just think also you just have to have works to go along with that as well. Now if they're talking about have works to go along with your faith in order to please God, that's fine, but if it's in regards to salvation, then it's wrong. You see, a lot of times people want to mix the two, don't they? You know, and then when you pinpoint them and you put them in a corner and you pin them down and say, hey, this is what the Bible says. It's like, oh yeah, yeah, that's what I believe. I'm just saying that you have to do works to please God afterwards and all that. Well, we got to separate the issue here. Those are two separate issues. One is working for God after salvation, which we believe in doing, amen. The other one is referring to salvation just period, how to be saved. And the Bible tells us that it's not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. Oh, I'm sorry. Romans 11, six. And if by grace, then it is no more of works. So get that. He says, look, if it's salvation is by grace, then it is no more of works. Otherwise grace is no more grace. So guess what? You can have it both ways. He says, if it's by grace, then there's no more of works. Otherwise grace is no more grace. You've made grace null and void by adding works to your salvation. But if it be of works, then there's no more grace. Otherwise work is no more work. Now here's the thing, go, go with me to Romans chapter three, Romans chapter 11. So the Bible tells us it's not of works. And here's the thing. Many people, what they'll do, excuse me, is they'll take you to James chapter two. Faith without works is dead, but they never finished the verse. Faith without works is dead, being alone. What they claim is that because you don't have works, you don't really have faith. But is that really what the Bible teaches and saying that if you don't have works and you say you have faith, then your faith is alone. It's still there. It's just alone. James chapter two is a chapter dedicated to helping Christians mature in their Christian lives, right? To be perfect, complete, entire, wanting nothing. Because after salvation, guess what? We're not only going to preach on salvation, we're going to preach about other things. And guess what? Now we have the responsibility to add to our faith virtue. To virtue knowledge, to knowledge temperance, to temperance patience, to patience brotherly kindness and godliness and so on and so forth. So we got to keep adding to our faith. But you know, if we don't add to our faith, faith is just alone. All you have is faith, right? But guess what? That's all you need to be saved. All you need to be saved is faith to have eternal life. But if you want a reward after that, then you have to add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge. Okay? Don't mix the two. People say, well, you know, well, I just think you have to keep the law in order to be saved. Look at Romans chapter three and verse 19. Now we know that what things so ever the law sayeth, it's sayeth to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become saved before God. Guilty before God. You see, the Bible specifically tells us that the law was there to condemn us. Moses came to condemn us, right? Why? So we can become guilty before God. The law was meant to strip us of our righteousness. The righteousness that we think we have, it's there to show us that our righteousness are as filthy rags in the eyes of God. Verse 20, therefore by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge of sin. So what does it teach in us here? The Bible is teaching us that, look, the Bible tells us in Romans chapter number two that the law of God is written in our hearts, right? We know that murder is wrong. We know that that adultery is wrong. We know that lying and stealing, these things are wrong. We know these in our hearts. Why? Because the law of God is written in our hearts. But here's the thing. Once someone shows us from the Bible that these things are wrong, we're without excuse. You say, so what about the person who's never shown from the Bible? They're still without excuse because they have the law of God written in their hearts. So your little African guy illustration that's in the jungles of the Congo that no missionary goes to, guess what? It still applies to him because he has the law of God written in his heart. Look at verse 28. Here's the conclusion of the matter. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Let's pray. He says, therefore we conclude. That's the conclusion of the matter. There is no if, ands, or buts after that. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Go to Romans chapter number four. So the law is our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. The law is there to make us guilty before God. The law is there to help us to realize that we can't save ourselves, that we cannot keep the whole law. And look, anybody who says that they're going to heaven because they kept the whole law, you ask them this, have you read the entire Bible yet? Because guess what? It's more than 10 commandments, right? There's far more commandments than just the 10 commandments. You understand that? Well, I've just read the New Testament, man, then you're really stuck because there's a bunch of commandments in the Old Testament. Look, let's just talk about the things that we know that we shouldn't do. The thou shall nots, right? Thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, thou shall not bear false witness. You know, thou shall have no other gods before me, but what about the things that you're supposed to do? Because the Bible says, he that knoweth to do good and doeth not, to him it is sin. So we have two categories. We have sins of omission and sins of commission. When you commit something that God tells you not to do, you're sinning. And when you don't do the things that God tells you to do, you're sinning. And not only that, but the Bible tells us that there's secret sins. There's sins that we have that sometimes we don't even know about, right? Presumptuous sins. The thought of foolishness is sin. I mean, he just covers it all. Why? So we can become guilty so no one can be justified in his sight. Now, look at Romans chapter number four. What about this saying, if we're really saved, we will do the works though. I believe it's by faith. I believe it's by grace. But if we're really saved, you're going to do the works. If you're really saved, you're going to have that undying desire, that robotic Calvinistic desire to just do right all the time, never sin, never do wrong. You're going to love God 24-7, love the Bible 24-7. You liar. You're a liar. You know why you're a liar? Because all of us are in this corrupted flesh. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that this body is corruptible. So how can you do right all the time if the shell that covers the soul that is saved is corruptible? If you would do right all the time after you got saved, then there's no need for any commandment in the Bible to not do wrong. Why does the commandment exist to say, walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh? Why are the commandments there to not kill, to not steal, to not commit adultery if we would just do right automatically right off the bat? You know why it's there? So you can obey it because you're going to do it. Look at Romans chapter four verse three. For what saith the scripture, let me just turn to myself. We're going to start from verse one. By the way, Romans chapter four, this is a side note here, is a perfect chapter to bring up when people bring up James chapter two because they're both talking about the same story, okay? And don't let them off the hook. Once you show them that and they want to go to Matthew seven, say, hold on, can we stick to what you said in James chapter two? Are you willing to admit that you're wrong about that? Look at Romans four verse one. What shall we say then that Abraham our father is pertaining to the flesh hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. So who does he have to glory before? Well, according to James chapter two, is before men. Because when we add works to our faith, we're justified before men, not before God. The only way people can see that you're a saved Christian is by your works, okay? Look at verse number three. For what saith the scripture, Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Notice that it doesn't say that God looked at his righteousness. It was counted unto him for righteousness when he believed. Verse four, now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of death. But to him that worketh not. What is the modern way of saying that? You don't work. Don't let the E-T-H at the end of work fool you, okay? It's not hard to understand. To him that worketh not basically means if you don't work. So for the person who does nothing, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith, not his works, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also described it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God impudeth righteousness without works, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, past tense. Blessed are they whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Now look, that's good news right there, amen? Forgiven past tense, but impute sin is a future tense. Now look, this is what I ask people when I go out so many, I say, do you believe that God is omniscient? Does he know everything? Absolutely. Do you think he knows of the sins you're going to do in the future? Yes. So when he saves you, don't you think he's covering that as well? Or is he just covering the past sins? Well, according to Romans chapter 4, verse 8, he will not impute sin. What does that mean? He won't ascribe sin to you. He's not going to blame you for any of the sins. He's not going to impute them. Why? Because they're forgiven, okay? Now what about this? Well, we have to repent of our sins. I believe you have to believe. It's by faith alone. But you got to repent of your sins in order to be saved. That's a false gospel. Why? Because repent of your sins means you have to turn from your sin, right? That's what they're saying. They're basically saying, well... And then there's so many variations of this too, by the way. It's like they have to find something new to like try to justify it. You know, it's just like, well, repent of your sins is like you got to repent of all your sins. And then you show them all the verses like, well, you don't even know all the sins you're doing. Well, you just got to repent of the sins that you know. Okay, so you're the standard then. So God's not setting the standard, you're setting the standard. Oh, well, here's the thing. You just got to be willing to repent of your sin. You just got to have the desire to not like want to sin anymore. It's like they just want to do anything. It's like, no, it's not. By the way, the phrase repent of your sin is never found in the Bible. Never found in the Bible. Oh, I know all kinds of scripture where it says, you know, repent and believe the gospel. Repent and believe the gospel. It doesn't say repent of your sins. You see, don't let people fool you when they say repent. Oh, it's in the Bible. Yeah, repentance is in the Bible. Yes. Repentance of sin is not. Now, by the way, the Bible teaches that we need to repent of our sins. It doesn't say the phrase, but it does teach that we got to do that. Not for salvation. You see, we as saved people, we need to repent of our sins. Why? To stay right with God. Not to maintain our salvation, but so that the Lord does not whoop us. So we can continue to receive the blessings of God in our life. And if we don't repent of our sins as saved people, if we draw back, we're not then to draw back into perdition. We believe to the saving of the soul. Okay. So they'll tell you, you know, look down at verse six. So what about the repenting of your sins? And most people, what they don't understand is we don't have to repent of our sins to be saved. We don't need repentance of sin. We need redemption. You see, it's not a matter of us coming before God with our sins and saying, I'm not going to do any of these anymore. It's more like we need, I need forgiveness of all of this. I need to be vindicated. I need to be exonerated, right? I need all these to be washed away. You don't need them to be, you don't need to turn from them. You need to be forgiven of them. And this is where people get mixed up. Okay. Even as David, verse six, also describe it the blessedness of the man unto whom God impudeth righteousness without works, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Go to Hebrews chapter number six, Hebrews chapter number six. And look, if you're in here today and you don't know 100% sure that if you're here to die today that you go to heaven, don't leave before you figure that out. Don't leave before you come and talk to one of us. Don't leave because of the fact that, look, life is but a vapor. You can be here right now living and breathing and you step outside these doors, something bad happens to you, you die. Guess what? If you're not saved, you will split hell wide open and you'll never come back. Okay. Hebrews six, verse one says, therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on into perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, not sin, and of faith toward God. So the Bible is telling us here that a foundational doctrine, a foundational teaching is repentance from dead works and faith toward God. Now, repentance, if you're to get one of the definitions in the Bible, it's simply a change of mind, okay? And it's telling us here the word of repent, not of our sins, but of dead works. What does that mean? Well, if you have faith toward God, that means you're trusting in God, you're trusting in Jesus Christ, you're no longer trusting in your works. The vast majority of the people that you'll run into today throughout the week are trusting in themselves to go to heaven. You know, are you 100% sure that if you die today, you go to heaven? Yes. How do you know? Well, because I'm a good person. I do good things. I go to church. I try not to sin. Work, work, work, work, work. Well, the Bible tells us that you have to repent of those dead works. What does that mean? You have to stop trusting in your works and place your faith in God, specifically, of course, Jesus Christ, okay? Now, go with me if you went to Colossians chapter number one. Colossians chapter number one. We are a church that believes in one saved, always saved. Eternal security of the believer. And look, let me just part in here for a little bit. When you go soul winning, this needs to be emphasized. Oh, I do emphasize, I say believe. Yeah, but you need to clarify eternal security. Don't just say, oh, just believe. Okay, at that point, then, you know, all the Catholics are saved, right? You talk to any Catholic, they'll agree with you on that. How about the Pentecostals? Are they saved? Because they'll tell you it's by believe only, by faith alone, but you know what they disagree on? Eternal security. And I don't care if you say that all you have to do is believe. If you feel like you can lose it, you don't believe it's eternal. And we're going to look later on, you're calling God a liar. Think about that for a second. If you don't believe that salvation is eternal, that it can be lost, the Bible specifically says you're calling God a liar. Why? Because he's the one who's promised to us eternal life in hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. If he's, oh, it's not eternal, you know, you can lose it. You're just calling God a liar then. Where do I have eternal? Colossians. Look at Colossians 1 verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Notice it says that he hath made us meet to be partakers. So why does it say that? Well, because of the fact that when we get saved, we're not saved by our own righteousness, God gives us the righteousness of Jesus Christ. See, no one would deny that Jesus Christ has never sinned, right? We understand he's never sinned. Perfect man because he's God, right? He has perfect righteousness. Therefore, we need the imputation of his righteousness upon us. What does that mean? We need God to ascribe Jesus Christ's righteousness unto us so that when God looks at us, he sees us through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, not through our own righteousness, which we have done, okay? Look at verse 13, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, and whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. When we get saved, the Bible tells us that we receive redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins, past, present, future. Small sins, big sins. Small sins like lying, big sins like murder and or suicide, and everything in between. We get forgiven of it all. Oh, what about the white lies? Well, like I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, God's commandments are not racist. A lie is a lie. You get forgiven of everything, okay? So we don't need to repent or turn from our sins to be saved. We just need to be forgiven completely, okay? Oh, you're just saying, you're just giving people a license to sin. Don't you hear that often? You know, one saved, always saved doctrine is just a license to sin. We're going to get to that in just a bit. Go to 1 John 1. Here's what makes me mad, okay, about these lordship salvation Calvinist fools. These self-righteous pompous heretics, they want to say like, oh, if you're saved, you'll never desire to sin, you know. And then you have guys like Ray Comfort, Jesse Lee Peterson, right, who will specifically say, oh, I don't sin. I don't sin, you know. I got rid of that spirit a long time ago. Look at 1 John 1.8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. So is Jesse Lee Peterson, you know, Ray Comfort, John MacArthur, all these guys, are they deceiving us? It's like, you just showed me your sin right now, you prideful, pompous, arrogant jerk. You're not deceiving anybody. You know who you're deceiving? Yourself. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. You say, well, hold on a second. So are you saying that you sin? Yes. Yes. Look at verse 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar. And his word is not in us. So look, just translate it. When you hear people say, I don't sin, just translate it like this. God's a liar. Just let that be translated because that's exactly what it means. When Jesse Lee Peterson gets up and he says, I don't sin, just basically put subtitles, God is a liar. Right? Because it says, we make him a liar. Why? God says that we sin. And let God be true and every man a liar. Now look, obviously, there's certain sins that we're not perpetually doing. Fornication, drunkenness, that's why there's a list of sins in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 that will qualify you to get excommunicated out of the church. Because these are sins of the flesh that you can abstain from that you don't have to partake of. But this is different, like for example, physical adultery is different from the adultery in the heart. What's the difference? Well, one is physically done and one is done in the heart. And the Bible tells us that even in the Old Testament, adultery was punishable by death, but not mental adultery. You know why? Because no one can know what you're thinking. The fact that God said that, hey, adultery in the heart is sinful is just to show us that we're sinners. That we're without excuse. That we sin not only in our flesh, but also in our minds, in our mouth, you know, with our actions, with our deeds, with our motives, right? So if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. Go to Ephesians chapter 1. Pretty basic sermon, but you know what? This is important to review. This is important to understand, to reinforce, and it's possibly people in our church that don't know these things yet. They believe in eternal security, but they don't know the verses. They don't know where to turn. They don't know the scriptures. They don't know the explanation thereof, where they're getting it today. Amen? Now, the Bible tells us that we simply have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved, right? And believe and the word trust are synonymous one with another in the Bible. So to believe, it doesn't mean just give mental assent that God exists or that Jesus Christ exists, right? It's not just to say, well, I believe there is a God. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That's part of it, but that's not what believe means. Believe means to trust in Him for your salvation, okay? Look at Ephesians 1 verse 11. This gives us a definition right here, and it'll explain it very clearly. In whom we also have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him, who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of His glory. Now, let's break this down because this is a great two verses to use right here when you're out soul winning. This is a great verse to use when people wonder like, well, you know, what if I sin afterwards? Am I still saved? How does that work? The Bible tells us here that trusting and believing are the same. And what's the thing that takes place immediately after you believe? You're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. This is an invisible supernatural event that takes place. You're not just like, whoa, I feel something. It's like, you got to burp, okay? That was the food you ate last night, that was the onions in your burger, okay? This is not some, like, physical thing that you feel. This is a supernatural spiritual thing that takes place, event that takes place, okay? You're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. And it says there, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. Now, what does that mean? Well, the purchased possession, when you get saved, the Bible tells us that you're purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ. Your soul is purchased, amen? That's what redeemed means, to redeem something is to purchase it back, right? You're redeemed. So your soul is redeemed, but guess what? So is your body, but it has not been yet redeemed as of yet. So that's why when we get saved, the part of our being that is actually saved is the soul, the spirit. That's why when you desire to read the Bible, that's the inner man in you, right? The inner man delights in the word of God. Look, if you're saved, this resonates with you. You're in agreement with it, amen? Unless you stayed up till 2 o'clock in the morning, you're just struggling to stay awake. You know, the spirit, that resonates with the spirit because the spirit delights in the law of God, the Bible says, after the inward man, okay? But here's the thing, we're still waiting for the redemption of the purchased possession, which is the body, the flesh. This is known as the rapture. This is known as the second coming of Christ when our bodies are literally physically resurrected from the grave. Or if we're alive and remain, we shall be caught up with them together in the clouds. So the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is like that down payment. That's what earnest of our inheritance means. It means the down payment on you to let, basically, you know, hey, you're saved. I've saved you. And in fact, later on in chapter number 4, it says, agreement not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Not until, but unto the day of redemption, right? Purchased possession unto the praise of His glory. This is a great verse to use to show people that once you're saved, you're always saved because of the fact that the Holy Spirit of God is living within you and He's sealed. You know, I often say this. You know, the illustration that I give is that once I tell people this, I'll say, look, you know, I know people don't mail anymore. You know, you guys know what that is? It's a piece of paper you fold and there's like an envelope. You guys ever heard of that? Okay. People use emails and text messages. Well, when you mail something, you fold up a letter, you put it into an envelope, you lick it, and you seal it. Then you put it into the mailbox. It doesn't get reopened until it reaches its final destination. Correct? Well, in like manner. Now, look, don't be a smart aleck and be like, oh, what about people who still mail, huh? You know, no illustration is perfect, okay? Well, what if it comes off and the contents come out? Yeah, okay. No illustration is perfect. And if that's you, go tell someone else that after the service, okay? Don't come to me with that. It's an illustration to basically show that once we're saved, guess what, we're always saved. Okay? Go to 1 John chapter number 5. 1 John chapter number 5. Let's talk about calling God a liar, okay? Why is it that I'm saying, why is it that we read here that if we don't believe salvation is forever, that it's eternal, it cannot be lost, we're calling God a liar. Why is that? Look at 1 John 5.10. He that believeth on the Son of God hath a witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his son. So what is the record that God is giving of his son? What does record mean? It means the witness, right? He's giving a record that Jesus Christ came, he died for us, was buried, rose again the third day, and if we believe on him, he'll give us everlasting life. If we choose not to believe that, God automatically takes that as, you're calling me a liar. Verse 11, and this is the record that God hath given to us, eternal life, and this life is in a son. Now here's the thing, one thing we have to understand, that in order for someone to get saved, they have to believe that salvation is a gift. Right? They obviously have to believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. The eternal son of God. Completely unrelated to Satan. You understand that? Because you talk to Mormons, and they'll say, yeah, he's the son of God, you know. But then you start talking about it, it's like, either the Jehovah's Witnesses or the Mormons, they both believe that he's either the brother of Michael, or the brother of Satan. That he was a created being. Okay? And they don't tell you that right off the bat. Why? Because they're a bunch of deceitful heretics, who want to damn people, and they, by sleight of hand and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, they just try to give you the truth that you want to hear, or that you need to hear, in order for them to slip into a little bit of lies. Okay? So you have to believe that it's a gift, you have to believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal son of God, without sin, but still, the son of God. Distinct from the father, amen? But you also have to believe that it's eternal. That it can never be lost. Now, why is that? Well, it's kind of stupid to believe, to say that we believe in everlasting life, or eternal life, but that we believe we can lose it. Because at that point, then you need to switch the first part of that phrase, and just call it temporal life. Right? It's no longer eternal. Eternal means it never ends, but all of a sudden it ends because you did something. And here's the thing that people like to say, well, yeah, I believe it's everlasting, and God will never take away your salvation, but you, you can give it up. Who in their right mind? I don't want this anymore. That's such a stupid illustration. Stupid saying, yeah, but we can't lose it, but you can give it back. What? That is so foolish and garbage. You know, this philosophy that says, it's just semantics is what it is, where they're trying to say, yeah, God can't take it away from me. He won't, but you can definitely give it up. And you know where that stems from? That stems from this denominational Christianity that uses unbiblical phrases about salvation, such as surrender my life. So how did you get saved? I gave my life to God. What does that mean? What does that mean you gave your life to God? Are you a monk? What does that even mean? Because you won't find them in the Bible. I surrendered my life. I gave my life. Now look, as Christians, I believe we should surrender daily, amen. We die daily, take up our cross and follow him. But that's another sermon for another day. Because right now we're talking about getting saved. Okay. You know, they'll say, I surrender my life. I gave my life to Christ. And they'll relate that to their salvation. Okay. That is not how you get saved because here's the thing. In order to die daily, you have to keep God's commandments. Right? In order to surrender to God, you gotta keep God's commandments. Right? You gotta do things that are pleasing unto him, abstain from doing that which is not pleasing to him. And at that point, guess what it becomes? Works. Go to 1 Peter chapter two. 1 Peter chapter two. So that's why the Bible says that a person is a liar because they're not believing the record that God gave of his son. So it's not just a matter of just hey, you just have to believe. You have to believe that it's eternal and that it can never be lost. So wake up call for everyone and I didn't hear that anyone was doing this out so many but less anyone should. You need to emphasize eternal security. Amen. Okay. Emphasize eternal security and make sure that that is an intricate part of your gospel presentation. Okay. You need to make sure that that is understood by the listener. Okay. You need to make sure that when you're giving your gospel presentation, you talk about how it's by faith alone, you need to make sure that you question the person and see if they believe that they can lose it. Okay. Now look, don't overdo it. And I'm serious about this. Oh, you can never overdo it. No, yes you can. You can overdo it to the point where you confuse people because then you keep asking them the same questions and guess what people think? I guess I'm not giving them the right answers because they keep asking me the same questions. If they gave you a good answer, be satisfied with that good answer. And don't try to confuse them and try to get them to say the wrong answer so you can like tell them the right answer. And here's the thing. Here's one of the most valuable things that you can learn as a soul winner. Aside from the verses, aside from your introduction, here's the most valuable tool. The most valuable tool that you can have as a soul winner is this. Learn how to read people. One of the most helpful and valuable things to me as a soul winner over the last 12 years is that I've worked on learning how to read people. Now I'm not talking about like, I'm talking about learning body language. That's why it's important that you learn your verses, memorize them, you know your introduction like the back of your hand so that when you talk to people, you're not stressing over, oh man, what's that one verse? Or did I say that right? No, learn that. Like, and this is what you do. You go home, practice in front of a mirror, right? Quote them so that when you go soul winning, you can really just focus on reading them. Because here's what you don't wanna do. You don't wanna waste your time with people who don't wanna talk to you. I don't like wasting my time when people don't wanna talk to me. You know, if they don't wanna talk to you, you don't wanna just force the gospel down their throat if they don't wanna talk to you, say, okay, well have a good day. Because guess what? We're gonna go back to their door like in a year. You know, at that time, they might have lost a family member, their dog might have died or something and their heart is softened to the gospel. So don't try to just so you can raise your hand and say I got five, seven, 12 or whatever salvations. Get genuine salvations, amen? Don't waste your time. And here's the thing, reading people is very much important because of the fact that you can see if they're getting what you're telling them. But if they're just like, yeah. Yeah, uh-huh, yeah. Oh yeah, yeah, that's why I believe, yeah. Yeah. Hey, cabazón! And then you just like keep going on and keep going on. They're not listening to you. They're not listening. And look, if you got people like that, just simply tell them, do you have a couple more minutes or are you busy? I'm almost done. If they say, well yeah, I'm kind of busy. Okay, then there's the invite. Read it when you have a chance to. Here's a YouTube card. You have a great day. Move on! But learn how to read people. Sometimes there's soul owners that are so caught up and just making sure they just get their entire gospel presentation across, they haven't even realized that the person stopped listening. They lost, you lost them at hello. It was just like, and there's nice people out there. There's some really polite people out there and they'll listen to you throughout your entire gospel presentation just because they don't want to be rude to you. But you know what, plant the seed, but don't waste your time. You need to learn how to read people. Pay attention to body language. Pay attention if they're looking at you. Measure their countenance, understand their body. If they look like they don't want to be there, then you know what, you shouldn't want to be there either. Leave them with the verse and walk away. That's more important than you coming here and raising your hand for six salvations and only one of them got saved. Just so you could say I got someone saved and everyone's all, ooh, ah, you know, that guy is crazy. That girl, you know, no. Get genuine salvations, because guess what? You're not going to be ooh-ing and ah-ing at the judgment seat of Christ. Or actually you will be ooh-ing. You'll be like, ooh, ooh, that wasn't real. That's what's going to happen, okay? Learn how to read people. Now look, now one thing that I've noticed is when I go out soul-winning is, you know, people are really stuck, they struggle with eternal security because they have a hard time understanding the fact that even after we're saved, yes, we can sin. And no, that's not a license to sin. What I'm saying is if you commit sins in the future after salvation, yes, you are still saved. Why is that? Well, look what the Bible says in First Peter chapter two, verse 21. For even here unto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps, who did no sin, neither was God found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously, who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed. So what is this telling us? It's telling us that when Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross, he took the sins of the whole world upon himself, you included. Every sin that you've ever committed in the past, the ones you're gonna do today, and even the ones you're gonna commit in the future, he bore those sins on his own body on the tree. And to explain it even further, what do we deserve because of sin? We deserve hell. So you know how Jesus Christ paid for that? Not just by placing those sins on his own body in a tree, but by dying and going to hell for us. Amen. What in the world are you talking about? The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ spent three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Amen. As Jonas was in the belly of the well, I was gonna say the other one again, in the belly of the well, three days and three nights, so shall the son of man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. Guess what's in the heart of the earth? Hell. And the Bible tells us in Acts chapter two that his soul was not left in hell. Neither did his flesh see corruption. Every, look, in the Old Testament, the sacrifice is, what do they call them? Burnt offerings. They didn't just burn them just because they wanted to get rid of them. It was symbolic of what Jesus Christ was gonna do for us. That's how we pay for our sins. And look, people have a problem with that doctrine sometimes but you know who I find don't have a problem with that is the people I actually speak to out in the streets. It makes complete sense to them. I've never had anybody like freak out when I tell them that. You know what they do? They go. Because it makes sense. So he bore our sins in his own body in a tree. The Bible says that he died and he went to hell for three days and three nights. The Bible tells us that he had made them to be sin who knew no sin. That we might be made the righteousness of Christ, of God in him, the Bible says. So again, it's not our righteousness, it's the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Now, go with me if you would to, let's see here. Go to John chapter three. John chapter number three. I already talked about the imputation doctrine which basically means that God ascribes the righteousness of Jesus Christ into us. That's how we know that we can never lose our salvation because we have that righteousness forever. It's not something that is stripped from us, it's something that is given to us. And look, the illustration of a gift is so important for this reason. It's important for people to understand what a gift is. It's something that is given, not earned. Now look, it is paid for, but not by the person receiving it. It's paid for by the person who's giving it, okay? That's why I hate Santa Claus. Yeah, I hate that guy. First of all, because he never came to the hood. And those of you who lived in the hood, you know that's true because we didn't have no chimney. We didn't give him cookies, we gave him conchas. But you know why, I'm kidding. But you know why I hate Santa Claus? It's because he will base the gifts that he gives to the children based upon how good they are. You have to be good, you can't be naughty, you gotta make sure you obey your parents, and then you'll get the gift. That's not a gift, Santa. You're making me earn it. And you know what's sad about that is that the whole thing of Santa Claus is during the time of Christmas, which is all about God giving to us his son, and that salvation is a gift, right? That's why we give gifts to children, not because they do anything, but because we love them. And then what does Santa do? You gotta be good, you know? That's wicked, okay? Now look at John chapter three, verse 18. He that believeth, or excuse me, yeah. I'm sorry, verse 36. I'm sorry, verse 18, verse 18, sorry. All the verses in John chapter three are good. But look at 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. Look at verse 36. I don't have it in my notes, but I wanna read it. It says here, he that believeth on the son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. By the way, you know what a lot of modern versions say? He that obeyeth not the son. You know, they'll change believing to obey. Oh, they're the same. No, they're not the same. Obeying the son is to obey his commandments, to believe on him is to trust in him. Very different, okay? Now, I'm gonna skip some things here. Go with me, if you would, to Revelation chapter 21, and we're done here. After we finish like 10 verses, okay? Now, what's another way of saying salvation? What's another way of saying that we're saved? Well, the Bible also says to overcome, okay? Now, here's the thing. When we look at biblical terms, we need to get biblical definitions. So we don't look at a biblical term and create our own definition, modern definition or whatever. We need to make sure that the word that God puts, we understand how he defines it as. The reason I say that is because look at Revelation 21 verse six says, and he said unto me, it is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is the thirst and of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son. Now, right there, I've known of a lot of false religions, victory outreach type places. They'll say, see, that's what you gotta overcome. You gotta overcome sin. You gotta overcome yourself. You gotta overcome. You gotta stop sinning and they'll use overcoming. Because at face value, you can kind of see, oh yeah, to overcome, because of the fact of how we use it today, right? You wanna overcome certain things. It's like you putting effort into overcoming something, correct? Now, go to chapter three. We're gonna work our way back in Revelation. So remember it says, he that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son. So what is the byproduct of overcoming? Well, the Bible tells us we'll inherit all things and we will also be sons of God and he shall be our God, all right? Now look at chapter three, verse five. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. Now that's a scary one, isn't it? He says, if you overcome, I'm gonna clothe you with white raiment and I'm not gonna blot out your name out of the book of life. Why is that important? Because the Bible tells us in Revelation chapter 20, verse 14 and 15, that whosoever's name was not found in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire. So if you compare that with chapter three, oh man, we gotta overcome then. Look at chapter two and verse 11. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that overcometh shall not be heard of the second death. Now we're really getting serious here because second death is referring to the lake of fire. But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and the whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. So the Bible's telling us that if we wanna inherit all things, we want God to be our father, we to be his sons. If we wanna escape the second death, if we don't want our names to be blotted out of the book of life, what do we have to do? We have to overcome. Now go to 1 John chapter five. Isn't God so good to give us 1 John chapter five? Isn't God so good that after he puts all those verses in Revelation about overcoming, he doesn't just leave us in obscurity, not knowing what that means, right? Look at 1 John five. And in fact, we went backwards, but you know what God did is he put 1 John before Revelation. So you go into Revelation knowing what overcoming means. Look at verse four, it says, For whatsoever is born of God, overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world? But he that believeth that Jesus is the son of God. And to that we say, amen. So what does it mean to overcome? It means to place our faith in Jesus Christ. Now, why does it use that terminology to overcome? Because of the fact that people have to overcome false ideologies, false doctrine in order to be saved. You have to change what you believe in in order to be saved. If you believe that the Virgin Mary gets you to heaven, guess what? You have to overcome that. If you believe that it's by works that you have to repent of your sin, you have to overcome that false ideology in order to be saved. Now, go back to Hebrews 10, where we started off and this is literally we're done, I promise. I am a man that I should lie, but this time I'm not lying. Now here's the big question. Well, aren't you giving people a license to sin if you do this? Because you're saying if we're saved, now we can just sin and nothing will ever happen. Well, is that really what we're saying? It's what they're saying. Because you know what they want to do? Whatever they want. Okay. Now remember that in Hebrews chapter 10, we read the latter portion of that, referring to the fact that if we draw back, it won't be into perdition, but we believe to the saving of the soul. But what happens when we draw back? Well, the Bible tells us that we won't go to hell, but that doesn't mean we will not suffer punishment here on this earth. Look at verse number 26 of Hebrews 10. For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. So what does that mean? You know, someone who committed murder under the Old Testament law, Moses' law, they died without mercy. Physically died before two or three witnesses. And by the way, how did they die? Well, in the Old Testament, it was by stones. Stoned them with stones. So those people who just want to say that God is all love, well, I don't know if like, that's a great way to kill someone. That's a very horrible way to die, because you don't die right away. How many of you have ever been hit with a rock, a pebble? Imagine a stone. Imagine multiple stones. They're making a heap of stones upon you. That's a very painful death. Verse 29, of how much sore punishment, suppose ye shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified in unholy things, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. For we know him that hath said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompensate the Lord, and again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. So is this a license to sin? Absolutely not. Because here it says, yeah, if you sin, if you willfully sin afterwards, God's going to punish you. Not in hell, because that's been paid for. But you know what he didn't pay for? Here. You suffer the consequences of your actions. And you know what the Bible says? That God will take vengeance on you. Recompense, right? He says the Lord will judge his people. And look, when I explain this to people, when I'm out sowing it, it clicks to them. I say, you won't go to hell, but God will definitely punish you here on this earth. And you know what? Those who despise Moses' law, in other words, they don't want to keep the commandments, they just don't want to obey God's commandments, they suffered the indignation under two or three witnesses. And it's no different today, right? If you sin when you're in the church, guess what? You get booted out and the Bible tells us according to 1 Corinthians chapter five, that you're given over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. So God can destroy you so that you can repent and come back. Amen? So what's the sermon today? It's simply this, it's a reinforcing of what we already believe in regards to eternal security. Amen? But understanding that eternal security is not a license to sin, but it's helping us to understand that we don't have to repent of sins to be saved, we just needed the redemption. We needed forgiveness of sins to be saved, right? And that after salvation, we should work, we should do works, we should obey God, and if we choose to do the opposite, if we choose to draw back, you know what the Bible tells us? That God will take vengeance. Let that sink in your ears today, amen? Spire heads in our word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word. We're thankful for eternal security. We're thankful that it's so clear in the Bible. It's so clearly seen throughout the word of God, specifically, of course, in the New Testament. And we're thankful that you put it very clearly in your word that we can just see it, we can use it, we can memorize it and give it unto those who we're trying to win unto the Lord. And I pray, God, that you'd help our church to remain strong in this doctrine, to understand that once we're saved, we're always saved. And what a comforting thought to know. And I pray, God, that you'd help us and help us to continue to be a soul winning church, to stay right doctrinally, and to be a church that's pleasing unto you. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. Amen.