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🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Good morning everyone. Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. If you'll please find your seats and grab a song book. We're going to start with song 412. Onward Christian soldiers, 412. Onward Christian soldiers, song 412. Let's sing it out. 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Good morning, thank you so much for coming to said vast Baptist Church. If you didn't get a bulletin, but you'd like one, just lift your hand up nice and high. One of our ushers can come by and get you an extra bulletin. On the front, we have our Bible memory passage, Psalm 59. We're working on verse number 12 for the week. On the inside, we have our service times, our church-wide soul winning times, and church stats. Please continue to work hard on our soul winning efforts. On the right, we have our expecting ladies list. We have several ladies you can be in prayer for throughout the week. Also, some upcoming events that we're going to be doing. A new one to put in your memory bank here is August 4th, the evening service. We're just going to have a going away dessert fellowship for Brother Oz and his family. And so, we're not expecting that. We're just going to have a going away dessert fellowship for Brother Oz and his family. And so, we're not exactly sure the exact date that he's going to be moving, but it's going to be probably pretty soon after that week. And it could even be there last Sunday here. And so, we just want to make sure that we have a time of fellowship for them. And we'll have a basket, so if you'd like to bring them a cash gift or a gift card, or even just a gift, you can, of course, bring anything that you would like. But you probably want to make sure you get it here before August 4th. That way, they can have it. Also, the Mighty Men's Conference is August 15th to the 17th for you guys. Do we have that sign up sheet? Okay, the sign up sheet is out here. Please make sure you sign up for that. And you can indicate if you're planning on coming when and when. Please make sure you sign up for that. And you can indicate if you're planning on coming when and how many nights. That way, we can make sure that we're accommodating you. Even if you can't make the entire event, you're still welcome to participate in as much as you'd like. Plus, it's only about maybe an hour and a half from here. So, even if you just want to come up with the preaching services, you can. Pastor Roger Jimenez is going to be coming out and preaching for us that Friday night. And so, if you'd like to hear Pastor Jimenez preach, I'd really encourage you to come out at least Friday night, even if you can't make the entire event or the conference. Also, Dr. Stringer is going to be preaching for us September 8th, which is going to be both that Sunday morning and Sunday evening services. And so, I really encourage you guys, even if you don't normally come to a Sunday evening service, to make it out for that one, just so we can encourage Dr. Stringer. And I'm sure he's going to bring some really good messages. He's going to be focusing again on the King James Bible, but he's a wealth of information on that subject. October 4th through the 6th is going to be our Heritage of the Lord conference again. And so, this is geared towards younger audiences, but we're going to have Pastor Bruce Mejia. We're going to have Pastor Anderson coming out and preaching for us. And we'll have a couple extra activities. We'll have our spelling bee. And so, I encourage you to participate if you can. And then, church rules and reminders. Please make sure your kids are not running in the church building. They shouldn't be on the stage. We want to make sure that we're keeping them away from all this equipment and instruments and stuff. We don't want anything to get hurt or broken. Also, children shouldn't be in the kitchen areas unattended. If you do have upset or crying children, please take them out of the sanctuary. You can use our mother baby rooms if you'd like, but they should always be where the mother is accompanying her children in those rooms. Also, quiet time on Sunday afternoon. So, from 2 to 4 p.m. immediately following the soul winning, we just have a quiet time in the sanctuary, turn off half the lights. And so, there's no talking. Also, we do have mother baby rooms that are available for all if you'd like to use those. And then, the fellowship room is for more quiet activities such as reading or using an electronic device. So, if you'd please accommodate us with that. And then, we have our prayer list as a separate handout. So, if you want to be praying for our church family throughout the week, we have several there that you can be praying for. Oh, one other announcement I was just going to make. So, next Sunday morning, I won't be here for the morning service because I'm going to be going down to Pure Words. I'm going to be preaching for them for that morning service. But I'm going to try and drive back and make it for the evening service on next Sunday. So, everything seems to be going very well in Houston. I know that they actually lost power for a while at the building and everything like that because of the hurricane. But I think that they're recovering okay. And so, I'm really excited to go down there and at least get to visit and see them. It's been a little while since I've been down there. And we're definitely encouraged by evangelist Salvador and what he's doing down there, doing a really good job. And so, I'm looking forward to getting down there and visiting with them as well. That's pretty much all I have as far as announcements specifically. We'll go ahead and sing our third song, which is our Psalm of the Week, Psalm 139. Sing it out nice and loud. You can use your special handouts for that, Psalm 139. All right, let's sing it out together, Psalm 139. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. Depart from me, therefore ye bloody men. Depart from me, therefore ye bloody men. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate me? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate me? Am not I green with those that rise up against me? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate me? For they speak against me wickedly. For they speak against me wickedly. And thine enemies take thy aim in vain. And thine enemies take thy aim in vain. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate me? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate me? Am not I green with those that rise up against me? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate me? I hate them with perfect hatred. I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them my enemies. I count them my enemies. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate me? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate me? Am not I green with those that rise up against me? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate me? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate me? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate me? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate me? Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone that loveth him that begat loveth them also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. 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? This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater, for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the 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. And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death, I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not unto death. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not, but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ, this is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father in Heaven, we thank you for this day for our church. I pray that you fill Pastor Shelley with your spirit, enable him to preach the sermon you've laid on his heart with clarity of mind and with boldness. And Lord, I pray also that you would soften hearts in the room to receive the preaching of your word, and keep us safe as we go out soul winning later. We love you, and in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. I want to look back at verse 13, the Bible says, These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is a really essential and core doctrine of the faith, and that is the idea that you can know you have eternal life, because once you're saved, you're always saved. And that's the title of my morning sermon is, Once Saved, Always Saved. Now, what's really clear in verse number 13 is that you can know that you have eternal life. That's important because having something is a present tense consideration. The fact that someone right now has eternal life, and not only do they have eternal life, they know that they have eternal life. And because it's eternal life, we understand that this is something that can never change or be altered. God does not hand out temporary life or conditional life, but rather He gives His children eternal life. And so once they've been saved, they know they are saved forever because they've been given eternal life. And that's really point number one. I have ten points this morning on what I want to describe as how you can know that once you're saved, you're always saved. And point one is that you have eternal life when you believe on Jesus Christ. Now, it says in this chapter, if we back up a little bit, look at verse nine, it says, If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. Meaning that if you believe anything in this world, the Bible is more believable and more trustworthy than any textbook, any TV news report, any science book, anything you could learn from anyone out there. The Bible is a more reliable witness. Even the information you've learned from your parents, even the fact that two plus two equals four, the Bible is more reliable. That is what the Bible is saying. It says, For this is the witness of God, which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the 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 there are those who believe the gospel, the record that God gave of his Son, and there's those who are liars. Those are the only two options out there. Either you believe the record that God gave of his Son or you're a liar is what the Bible says. There's not another option. According to the text, if you don't believe the record that God gave of his Son, you are a liar. It says in verse number 11, And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. So that's the context leading into the fact that you can know you have eternal life, because if you have the Son, you have life. You have eternal life, and we understand we've received this, and we've acquired this through believing the record that God gave of his Son. Notice that it doesn't say because you're a good person. Notice it doesn't say because you're a pendant of your sins. Notice it doesn't say because you have this commitment to serve God for the rest of your life. No, what the Bible says is you believe the record that God gave of his Son. That's specifically what gives you eternal life and gives you salvation. Now let's go to the most famous verse in the Bible. Go to John, chapter number 3. Go to John, chapter number 3. But it's super clear that once you believe in Jesus Christ, you're saved forever. You're saved forever because you have eternal life. That is a present tense thing. Now the most famous verse in the Bible says the exact same thing. And it says in John 3 is 16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The verse preceding says the same thing. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. So eternal life, everlasting life, we're describing the exact same thing here. And that is something that lasts forever. Once someone has believed in Jesus Christ, they will have a life that lasts forever. And of course, this perishing in John 3 is not talking about a separation of body and spirit. We will all go through that, and that can be referred to as death. But, generally speaking, in this context, we're talking about a spiritual distinguishment here. And you won't go through a spiritual death in a place called hell. And because you have everlasting life, your soul and your spirit will never die. And that's what it's describing here. Why? Because your soul and your spirit have eternal life. Your physical body doesn't change. When you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, nothing happens to you physiologically. There's not some kind of a metaphysical change, or there's not some kind of a physical change. It's really a spiritual change that happens, where inside you are given eternal life, everlasting life, and your spirit has been quickened. And it even says in verse 36, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. That's present tense again. So we notice that it's not like, well, one day I'll get eternal life, or eventually I may have everlasting life. Well, the Bible says that when you believe on the Jesus Christ, you have everlasting life right now. The Bible says in 1 John 5, which we just read, that you can know that you have everlasting life, that you have eternal life. So you can know right now that you have it because, why? Because you believed on Jesus Christ. Because you believe the record that God gave of His Son, that Jesus Christ died on the cross, that He was buried, and that He rose again, paying for all of your sins, and that you're trusting only in what He did to save you. When you put that faith in Jesus Christ, you have everlasting life, and there's nothing that can ever stop you from going to heaven. You are saved. And that's, of course, why we believe that someone is saved with a D at the end. Not being saved, or could be saved, or hopefully will be saved, or some kind of a question mark here. You know, you knock on a lot of doors, you talk to a lot of people, you ask them, are you sure if he died that he'd go to heaven? I hope so. I think so. Maybe that illustrates the fact that this person hasn't put all their faith in Jesus Christ, and they don't know that they already have eternal life. Because if you know that you already have eternal life, well the answer, of course, is going to be yes. And God wants us to have that confidence to know, yes, I am going to heaven. But it's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by His mercy that He saved us. You know, I didn't get saved because I did some great work for God, or because I changed my life, or because I made some commitment, or because I know I'm going to be faithful in the future. I just accepted His free gift, and I just believed on what Jesus already did for me, and that's what gave me everlasting life. So point one of how you know that once you're saved you're always saved is because once you believe, you have everlasting life in that moment. Here's the second reason. Look at chapter one, John chapter one. And these are some great points to emphasize if you go out preaching the gospel, if you go out soul winning, these are great points to emphasize to someone you're trying to explain how to get saved. Because it's necessary for them to understand the everlasting nature of salvation. Didn't we notice in 1 John 5 that you have to believe the record that God gave of His Son? And when it says, and this is the record, what does it say? That He has given us eternal life. That was the first statement. The absolute first statement of the record that God gave of His Son is that He's given unto us eternal life. That was the first part. It's an eternal salvation that God is offering through Jesus Christ. Not some kind of a temporary salvation. Not just a you're at peace with God for this moment. No, it's an eternal salvation. It's eternal life that's being offered. That's what's being offered. Now additionally, the Bible uses other analogies or other illustrations or other descriptions of salvation to help us recognize and understand how salvation itself is an eternal process that happens in a moment. Sometimes when you talk to people, unfortunately they think salvation is a process. They think that being saved is something that takes time and it's something that happens over your whole life and that God's evaluating and judging every decision you make and all the different sins and if you stay faithful. But the Bible makes it clear that salvation is a moment in time. A one-time event, just like human birth is a one-time event, salvation is a one-time birthing event. But it's not a physical birth, it's a spiritual birth. And once you've been born a child of God, you are forever a child of God. It says in John 1 verse 12, But as many as received Him, to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. The word even means specifically. So those who believe in Jesus are the ones who become the children of God. Now this, I think, is a really important point to make to somebody when you're out preaching the gospel. It really helps them understand several different points because number one, most everyone understands that birth is a one-time event that happens in a moment. Not only that, but if you think about it, even physical birth, your mother is the one that did all of the work. All of the labor, all the effort. You basically just get a free ride. You get birth without having to do anything. And that's similar in the context of how Jesus Christ did all the work for us and how we simply get a free ride and we're just born again not by any works or effort of our own, but rather by the full effort of the Lord Jesus Christ. And once you've been born by your mother, she is your mother forever. There's nothing that could change that. Even if your mother technically abandoned you or you're adopted or any of these different things that you could dream up, your mom is your mom forever. She's your birth mother forever no matter what happens. You can't change that fact. Now, of course, you could have a good relationship with her. You could have a bad relationship. My mom, unfortunately, has already passed away, so my mother's dead. But here's the thing. She's still my mom. Nothing's going to change that fact. In the same way, I'm her son, nothing could ever change that fact. Even if I technically got adopted by somebody else or other circumstances happen in my life, even if I was the worst person to ever live, well, she's still my mother. It's just a fact of life that that is my mother and I can't change it. Here's another thing that's important about this is no matter how much free will I possess, I still can't change the fact that my mother is my mother forever. Just because my mom is my mom forever doesn't change the fact that I have free will, and it doesn't change the fact that with my free will I can't change that because it's already happened. It's already been locked in. So once someone believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, they become a child of God in that moment. And even though they have free will, nothing can change the fact that they are a child of God forever. I want you to go to a couple of other places. Go to Galatians chapter 3 for a moment. Go to Galatians chapter 3. But notice that not everybody is a child of God. You have to become a child of God. Why? Because everybody is God's creation, but not everyone is a child of God. You have to become a child of God, and the only way to become a child of God is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why it's saying in John chapter 1 verse 12, Even to them that believe on his name, meaning specifically to those who believe in Jesus, those are the ones that become the children of God. Now, this concept of being a child of God is mentioned in multiple places in the Bible, not just in John 1-12. I like using John 1-12 when explaining the Gospel because it's right next to John 3-16. So a lot of times, right when I'm done explaining John 3-16, I can just go right to John 1-12 and explain the fact that we're also children of God. Now, why I think that it's important to explain the fact that we're children of God is because it helps to understand why it's still important to serve God. And for many people, they're just confused because they think when they hear how salvation is free or it's just by faith or that you can't lose it that you'd somehow be motivated to not serve God or that following his rules or commandments aren't important all of a sudden. But that logic doesn't follow in our lives. You know, I wasn't motivated to break my parents' rules even though I knew that nothing could change the fact that they're my parents. Just because I know my mom is my mom forever and even though my parents have told me that they'll love me forever even if I was a bad kid, they would still love me, it didn't motivate me to be a bad kid. You know, I still loved my parents, and I wanted to do right, and the same is with God. Just because I'm saved and just because I have eternal life and even though I know it's free and even though I know I can't lose it, it doesn't motivate me to be a bad person. And what kind of insanity to think that just because you can't lose your salvation you're now going to be motivated to just be a bad person when in fact 95 plus percentage of the entire world doesn't believe that and they're really bad. Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever realized that people, like most people don't even believe that and they're still really bad? So if telling someone you have to be good is the only way for them to be good or that's actually an effective method, wouldn't we see some fruit of that? Wouldn't we see some evidence of that? Yet when we look at religions, when we look at people who actually believe and genuinely think you have to be a good person to go to heaven, they don't live faithful lives, they don't follow God's commandments, they're not living some higher level of righteousness than those who believe in salvation being free and by grace. And so really it's a straw man argument to put it out there and say, well if you tell people they can't lose their salvation they're not going to want to serve God. Well number one, they don't want to serve God already. All right? So even if that didn't change, well then nothing changed, right? But salvation can be free and you can still be motivated to serve God. Why? Because you want God to be pleased with you. Just like I want my parents to be pleased with me. You know, I want my parents to love me but also like me, okay? You know what, you can love someone and not really like them at the same time, okay? And the reality is that we want God to not just love us in an ultimate fashion but we want Him to also like us and we also want to be God's friend, okay? These things are related to how you serve God and following His commandments. But no matter what, if you believe in Jesus Christ you are a child of God. And you're not a child of God because you follow rules. You're a child of God because of faith. What does it say in Galatians chapter 3 verse 26? Fear all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. You know what makes you a child of God? Your faith in Jesus, just like John 1-12 just said. Now think about it this way and I try to help people understand this distinction. I say, you know, if I follow all of your rules would I now be your son? And they're like, no, of course not, right? Because that's not how you become someone's son is by following the rules. I say, hey, if I go to work and I follow all of my boss's rules am I now my boss's son? And they're like, of course not. You're not your boss's son by following rules. So then I ask this. I say, so if I decide to just go to church and try to follow all the rules of the Bible am I now God's son? And, you know, it's sad. Sometimes they got the logic of like, right, right? And then they're like, no, of course you would. It's like, no, that's not how you become God's son. It's not just showing up at the building. It's not just following rules. Just like in every other scenario that's not how it works. The same is with God. Going to church and following rules does not make you God's son. It's by faith in Jesus Christ like we just saw here in Galatians. That's what makes you a child of God. And once a child, forever a child. Now go if you would to 1 John chapter 3. Go back to 1 John. Sometimes it's important to also show some of these present tense verses because this is what somebody might say. Well, yeah, you will get eternal life and you will become a child of God if you remain faithful. You know, that's not what the Bible says. The Bible said in John chapter 3 that you have eternal life. You have everlasting life. That's present tense. And not only that, the Bible can say right now that you are a child, not that you're going to become a child eventually, or maybe you might become a child. The Bible says we are children. What does it say in 1 John chapter 3? Look what it says in verse 2. I'm sorry, Beloved, now are we the sons of God? Notice it doesn't say we will become the sons of God, or we could become the sons of God, or I hope some of us become the children of God. No, Beloved, now, now are we the sons of God. Right now I am a son of God. And you know when that will change? Never. I will always be a son of God. Now notice it doesn't say we're all good children of God. That's dependent on how good of a child you are. Some of you might not be a very good son of God, or a daughter of God. But guess what? If you believe in Jesus Christ, you are right now present tense a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus. So that helps you understand that once you're saved, you're always saved, because once you're a child, you're always a child. Go if you would to Ephesians chapter 1. Go to Ephesians chapter 1. That's point 1.2. I almost always explain point 1 and point 2 when I go soul winning. When I go soul winning, I pretty much thoroughly explain these two points, because I think it's really important to help people understand a few things. Number one, that salvation is just by faith, that you have eternal life, you can't lose it, that you're now a child of God, and why it's important to still follow God's rules, even though it has no impact on me going to heaven. You know, maybe even challenge them and say, so if I believe in Christ, but I don't follow all the commandments, or I break some of the commandments, or I commit a big sin, would I still have eternal life? Would I still be a child of God? And that kind of gives them a test to understand if they realize what salvation is being offered, that it's an eternal life, that you can't lose it. And of course, that's where some people may not fully have grasped what we're talking about. And so it's a good idea to kind of test people and help them understand, you know, if you believe in Jesus Christ, can you lose it? Because that illustrates where your faith is at. If you think you can lose your salvation, you're not really placing your faith on Jesus Christ, you're really placing your faith on yourself to either be good in the future, to stay faithful, or to do right. You're just kind of relying on yourself, and it illustrates, I think, for most people that they're just not saved. If you're trusting in yourself, you're not saved. And I just throw it out there, I think everyone who believes they can lose their salvation is just not saved. And I'm going to treat them as unsaved. Now, is it possible that someone can get a little mixed up on this and still be saved? Yeah, I do believe that. But you know what? Why would I want to treat that person as saved when I feel like they might be in danger? Just like in Galatians, people that got a little mixed up on the gospel, yeah, some of them could have been saved, but at the same time, Paul's not really treating them with kid gloves here. In fact, he's saying, I'm afraid of you. And again, I'm not necessarily, when I go out soul-winning, going to just say, hey, I'm afraid of you, or anything like that. But I try to help them understand how eternal security is tied to salvation and how truly people who are saved understand they can't lose it. And that the denominations and the churches that teach you can lose your salvation, they're by and large all unsaved. The Pentecostals, the Charismaniacs of this world, the Catholics, all these different creepy denominations like the Jehovah's Witnesses and all these other groups, they believe you can lose your salvation, and they're not saved. They don't believe salvation by faith alone. They're not even just a little bit mixed up. They're just definitely not saved. They misinterpret the whole Bible, and so it's an important distinction. We want to make sure that people understand that salvation is eternal because that's a necessary component to putting your trust and faith in Jesus Christ. And I don't run into people who deny eternal security, who deny salvation being once saved, always saved, and I think, oh, this person's saved. This person has a good grasp on the Bible. This person's producing a lot of fruit. No, those people are always mixed up, have doctrinal issues, and so I don't want to pretend like I think those people are saved because I don't. I just don't think that they are. Now, maybe someone is a little bit ignorant, like they've just, they heard salvation was free, and they never really thought about it. Yeah, I guess they could be saved, but generally speaking, someone going around denying eternal security and thinking, oh, you can't just sin. You can't just live however you want. It's kind of a process. Any of these kind of statements, that person's just not saved, and they just don't understand it. They haven't seen clearly enough, and so they need to be shown from the Bible that you cannot lose your salvation. Now, look at Ephesians chapter 1, verse 13. 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, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of his glory. So point one, when you believe in Jesus, you have eternal life. Point two, you become a child of God. Point three, you're sealed by the Holy Ghost. You've been sealed by the Holy Ghost. There's no way to alter that, because notice specifically in verse 14, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of the Lord, meaning that God has put an earnest down on us, signifying that he will redeem us and that we will be saved and that earnest payment was the Holy Ghost. And he's saying it's going to happen until the day of redemption. So that gives us that assurance that once we're saved, you're always saved because we've been sealed. And once you've been sealed, you're always sealed. So again, a lot of these things are really easy to grasp if you kind of understand elements of our world. You know, what is an earnest payment? From the context of buying a house, when you're trying to purchase a property, they'll often ask for an earnest down payment, and that's just basically money. It's not the entire contract, but it's just a portion of the funds that you're going to deliver to buy the house, and you're basically giving it because you are saying, I'm serious about buying this house. And a lot of times it's 1%, maybe 2% of the purchase price. So if you're going to buy a house, it's $100,000, which that's like 1990s, sorry, inflation. But if you're buying a house for $100,000, you know, you might have to put $1,000 or $2,000 down as an earnest payment. And if you decide not to buy the house or you back out, you lose that money. You don't have that anymore. But what you already know, I'm going to buy this house in 30 days or 60 days or whatever your closing is, and as kind of a guarantee to the seller to help make them comfortable with the arrangement, you go ahead and you give them a little bit of money saying, look, I'm doing this to show you and illustrate how serious I am about buying this. Now think about that in the context of God. If God's giving us and sealing us with the Holy Spirit, is he going to lose that by not purchasing us later? Of course not. And so it's just God showing how serious he is about salvation, that he's already sealed us with the Holy Spirit and indicating to us that, hey, he's serious, he's going to save us, and we're not going to go to hell. Because the reality is we haven't died yet. And we haven't faced that consequence of hell yet, and yet we can know with confidence that I don't have to worry about that because of the fact that, hey, I've already been sealed. Just like if someone were to sell their house, they want to have that confidence that the arrangement's going to go through because they've already moved all their stuff out, they need a place to go, they need that money to move on with their life, and to give them confidence that the arrangement's going to happen, they had that earnest money that was being put down in the same context. Now, a couple other things that are important about this verse. Did you notice in verse 13 how it says, in whom ye also trusted with a D at the end? What does that mean? It's already happened. Did you notice that? It's not a process. No, I already trusted. And I already did something else. Notice in this verse, I already believed. Meaning, you know, It's not I have to believe my entire life to be saved. No, I already believed and I'm already saved. I believed in the times past and I'm sealed with the Holy Spirit. That's why a lot of people, you know, will even write in their Bible the day they got saved because that was the day that they trusted, that was the day that they believed, that was the day that they were sealed, that was the day that they were saved, and they're always saved. So that day can live in their mind in the reminder of the fact that they've already believed, that they've already trusted. And you know what? It also defines what believing means. Did it say believe means follow the commandments? No. Did it say believe means you're going to surrender your life? No. Did it say believe means repent of your sins? No, it says believe means trust. So it helps define in our mind what these words even mean. Hey, what does it mean to believe in Jesus? It means to trust Him. Okay? That's what it truly means to use the right verbiage, but with a wrong definition. Salvation is by faith. What that means is you're going to follow all the commandments. Whoa! That's not what faith means. And even if that's what faith meant, why would there be any admonition to even follow the commandments? Because everybody that has faith is automatically going to do it. You know what? Just because you have faith and you trust in someone does not mean you're going to follow all their commandments and follow all their rules perfectly. That's where the work comes into play. And so we have to understand that what sealed us was the fact that we believed in times past. And what did we believe? We believed the word of truth. We believed the gospel. Okay? That's what it says in verse number 13. Look at chapter 4. I want to show you the permanency of the sealing. And look at verse 30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. So he's saying, Look, I just want to make you comfortable with a certain fact. The Holy Spirit, when you've been sealed, it's going to be until the day of redemption. Now, of course, can you grieve him? Yes. Should we sin? No. Will we sin? Yes. But you know what? Even if I sin, even if I grieve the Holy Spirit, guess what? I'm still sealed until the day of redemption. So there's nothing that can really change that. I'm good to go. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. Go ahead to John, chapter number 5. Go to John, chapter number 5. And sometimes it's good to have some of these talking points in the back of your mind so that if you're preaching the Gospel to somebody or you're trying to help them understand what you're saying, you could pull out some other verses or you could pull out some other passages that could be used. And again, Ephesians 1 is a good one to keep in the back of your mind if you're needing to help illustrate to somebody what believe means. Say, no, no, no, the Bible says that believe means trust. Let me show you. It has it right here in Ephesians, chapter number 1, verse 13. I can show you right here how trusting and belief and notice these are past tense, indicating this is an event that already happened in some point in the past. It's not a process. It's not continually going. This can help you to illustrate to people the one-time event and how it can't be changed. And then think about it. You're right there at Ephesians 1. Ephesians 4 says, hey, you're sealed until the day of redemption. And yeah, we don't want to sin. We don't want to grieve the Holy Spirit, but we're saved no matter what. And when I'm talking to some people, you know, you want to use a little bit of discretion when determining if someone's saved or not because sometimes people are just bad at wording things. Most people aren't even reading the Bible. And so sometimes they give a little bit goofy answers, but after you kind of talk to them for a few minutes, you can find out what they really believe. Or a lot of times what I'll do, if someone's being vague on eternal security, they seem saved. They say, like, hey, it's faith in Jesus or believing in Jesus or accepting Jesus. And I ask them about eternal life. They're like, I don't know. I'm not sure. You know, I don't just immediately just say, like, I'm saved. Okay. But sometimes what I may do is I may say, well, the Bible teaches that once you believe in Christ, you become his child, and you can never change that. The Bible teaches a one-time event. Is that what you believe? And then you get a test, and they're like, oh, yeah, that's what I believe. You know, I talked to some liberal, you know, nom-the-nom guy, and he was kind of being weird and kind of vague about, you know, salvation and, like, eternal life. And he was there with his girlfriend, and she seemed way more unsaved, potentially, and that may even affect some of their answers. But I kind of just said, well, I believe the Bible says salvation is a one-time event. You can't lose it, even if you didn't have any works. And then after I said that, he's like, oh, yeah, you're right. I agree with you. You're right on that issue. I wasn't going to say, like, oh, you were unsaved because you gave some weird answers at first. You know, we want to make sure that we're kind of really clear and that they're really clear and that you get good responses, and you can help people actually genuinely change their mind if needed. Now, sometimes people are even, they kind of get it, but then they're a little screwed up, or maybe they're like, I'm not sure, and you kind of say this, and they're like, yeah, I think you're right. Then maybe I'll just show them a couple of eternal security verses just to help them realize that they can be confident in it, okay? But I'm not going to necessarily just deem them unsaved and just be really rude to them. For me, if someone doesn't change their mind, I didn't get them saved, okay? And my litmus test for if they change their mind is what they say. Not if I'm like, I think you changed your mind. It's if you think you changed your mind. So that's why I ask many questions to that effect, or I may try to clarify with them, at the end say, like, is this what you believe? And if they're like, no, then I think they don't believe it, right? If I say, hey, you said this before. You said that you can lose your salvation. You said it was a process. Now that I've showed you in the Bible that it's a one-time event, that you can't lose it, did you change your mind? And they're like, yes, I changed my mind. Well, that's an indication to me that this person needs to pray and get saved. Because why? Because they changed what they believed, right? But if they're kind of vague and weird at first, and then you end up clarifying for them, and I'm like, did you change your mind? They say, no. I mean, I don't know that there's really a point in necessarily praying with that individual. Because, you know, I'm not just going out to just see how many people I can pray with, like a Catholic. I'm not just trying to see how many people I can pray with, like Todd White, going around just hitting people, like, can I pray for you, brother? You know, no. I want to actually have people change their mind and actually repent of something, and they understand that they repent of something, and that's why we're praying and getting people saved. So, you know, I'm not one of these one, two, three, repeat after me, you know, hey, did you change your mind? Did you actually repent? You know, they say, you guys don't preach repentance. No, I do preach repentance. In fact, I won't get anybody saved without repentance. Okay, but it's not repenting of your sin. It's recognizing that salvation is a eternal gift that you can't lose. It's realizing that you're trusting in what Jesus did for you and not in yourself, that you're taking all reliance and all faith and all trust and taking it off of yourself and putting it on Jesus Christ. It's also that it's not like faith plus works. It's just faith alone. The Catholic, this is what many people think that are Catholic when you talk to them. You say, hey, salvation's not faith that works, it's just faith. This is what they think, oh, I'm saved then. Because imagine if you were to go to the store, or a restaurant, let's say we're going to a restaurant, and you're going to buy a burger, and you say, how much did the burger cost? And it's like $20. Oh, great, well, I have two 20s, so I'm good. That's what they think. They think, well, I already have two 20s, so I can pay for it. That is not how salvation works. Salvation is not simply, I have more than enough money because I have faith and works. No, because if you're believing in yourself, well, then you can't get in. It's like, hey, you show up at the door, and to get in, you have to know the host. That's how you get in. It's not like, well, I know myself. I can get in. No, you have to put all of your faith in Jesus Christ and he's who gets you in, because you can't pay for it. If we were actually going to use a money analogy in a similar way, and you say, hey, it's faith alone. It's not faith and works. It's like the burger is actually $2 trillion, and you have two 20s. That's the real analogy. But there's a guy that has that money. There's a guy that already paid for it. You can get in. But if you try to say it's him and me, well, you're not getting in. You have to just say it's all him, because if it's you and him, well, you're paying $1 trillion. You can't even pay half of it. You can't even pay 1% of it. You can't pay any of it, because the reality is you don't even have two 20s! For all of sin, it comes short of the glory of God. Your righteousness has filthy rags. You literally have $0. Christ has unlimited riches, and the price to get in is infinite. You can't even put a price tag on it. And then you're thinking, well, I'm going to get in based on what I do. You have nothing to offer. You can't get in that way. And so we don't want people to think, when you knock on doors, you're talking to Catholics, hey, it's faith plus works. No, no, no, no. It's faith only. And if you think it's faith plus works, you're not saved. You can't get in. It's not an option. It's like, hey, we need to go to Europe. Well, how do you get there? Well, I'm going to take a plane and a car across the ocean. No, you're not. You're either taking the plane and you're going to get there, or you're not going to make it, because at any point you try the car across the ocean, you're not making it. So it's not the plane plus the car across the ocean. It's just the plane. Or you could just try swimming, but that's not going to work either, okay? And that is how many people are looking at salvation. They think, oh, I'm going to take both. You can't take both. You have to get on the plane. You're not flying. Jesus is flying. You don't even know how to get there, and you just sit back and relax, and that's how you get there. And once you've believed in Him, He gives you that eternal life. You become a child of God. You're sealed by the Holy Ghost. And here's a fourth one. You've been passed from death unto life. Look at John 5, verse 24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. So this verse actually hits a point we've already made, that you currently have everlasting life. That's present tense. Here's a second idea that's in this verse that's a really good one. You can't even come into condemnation, meaning no matter what sin you commit in the future, you can't get into condemnation again. Why? Because you've already been passed from death unto life. And notice again that the word past is a past tense word. Past is a past tense word because it already happened. I've already been passed from death unto life. I already have everlasting life. So there's no way I can ever go to hell because I can't come into condemnation and I've already been passed from death unto life. I've already passed hell. Just like at the Passover lamb, once the death angel passed over the door, well, now they're saved, and they can never die from that death angel because it's already been passed. It's already over. The blood's already on the door. There's no more condemnation. They've been saved, okay? That is the picture, the illustration we're getting. Go to John chapter 10. Go to John chapter 10. There's so many great passages in the book of John on eternal security. That would make sense if you think about it because the Gospel of John at the very end, it tells you specifically why it's even written, and it says, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through His name. So it's like I want to write an entire gospel dedicated to you getting eternal life. So you think you would emphasize eternal life then? You think you would emphasize how to get that and what it takes and the importance of believing? Sure, whereas other books of the Bible, that's not the main goal. The main goal of the book of Ruth is not to explain to you how to have eternal life, okay? Or it's the Song of Solomon or Ecclesiastes or Revelation, okay? There's different books for different reasons, different seasons, different aspects of information. The Gospel of John is telling you specifically, this one is for a specific reason of believing and getting eternal life. So it's like if I want to explain to somebody how to be saved and how to have eternal life, I should be going to a lot of John. But what I notice is people who do not believe and once saved, always saved, they're going to take you to the passages not in John. Like they pretty much just avoid John completely. They didn't want to bring up any of the verses in John because John is just so clear and just hammering this point over and over and over. So they have to go to some cryptic other passage that's not in the Gospel of John. But John is such a great book and, you know, after getting someone saved, I even emphasize, hey, why don't you start in John or read a lot more in John because it's going to remind you the importance of how salvation is just by believing and that you have eternal life. So there's other books in the Bible that teach you other things, but right now it might be important to really just hammer this in by believing in Christ and understanding the Gospel of John uses the word believe like 99 times. So you're just getting it hammered. Again, this is a great verse a lot of people use. Look at verse 27. Notice how Christ describes this. Never perish. That's showing you another aspect of eternal life or everlasting life. He's going to give unto you eternal life, meaning what? You're never going to perish. Of course, what is this perishing describing? It's being in a place called hell. Perishing or being dead or death, those are describing hell, and he's saying you're never going to go there. You're never going to experience that, and you are in Christ's hand. He even follows that up with the fact that in verse 29, my Father, which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. So it's almost as if you're going to cross the street and in one hand, Christ is holding you, and in the other hand, the Father is holding you, and they're going to walk with you across the street. And whatever danger is in that street, even if you yourself don't want to cross the street, well guess what? They're going to drag you across. You know, we have a lot of people park across the street, and if you are taking your young child or your young toddler with you, grab them by the hand. Some parents don't. Not recommending that. If you're young toddlers and stuff, grab them by the hand. You walk over there with them. If they start trying to run away, or they're resistant, or even if they fall down, you're stronger than them. You're going to get them across the finish line. You're going to get them across the street. You're going to bring them to safety because you love them. The same is with God. God is going to bring us to the finish line. God is stronger than us, and this is the illustration of how once you're in God's hand, no one can get out. Sometimes I hear, this is what people say, well no man can pluck you out, but you can jump out. And I'm like, okay, so is my two-year-old going to be able to jump out of my hand when I'm walking across the street? And the answer is no! I'm stronger than him, I promise you. It doesn't matter how much he doth protest, I can take him across the finish line. You know what, even if a Christian is trying to get out of God's hand, they can't. And it really wouldn't be them getting out of God's hand. I'm kind of getting ahead of myself, but when you get saved, you have a dual nature. You have your old man, you have your carnal nature, and then you have your new man and your new nature. And the only person trying to get out of God's hand would be that old carnal nature, because your new man wouldn't want to do that and in fact, according to the Bible, that's not even you anymore. That's your old man that's dead in trespasses and sins, and so it doesn't even matter what he wants to do. He doesn't want to serve God at any point in his life. The old man is not interested in the things of God. It's only the new man that wants to serve God. And so that's important to understand that even if you wanted to get out of God's hand, you can't. And even if you want to, it's not really you, it's your old man anyways. Don't get discouraged if you think, like, I just don't want to go to church today. Just be like, shut up, old man. You know, don't talk to your dad that way. All right? Talk to yourself that way, all right? And you just say, you have to crucify the flesh. That's what the Bible means by that. Go if you would to Romans, chapter number five. So we've covered five points and they're probably the most important. I'm going to give you another five that I think are good. And sometimes I even use these. But the first five are just so important and great to use out so many. Hey, number one, you have eternal life. That's why once you're saved, you're always saved. Number two, you're a child of God. Number three, you're sealed by the Holy Ghost. Number four, you've been passed from death unto life. Number five, you're in Jesus' hand. And you could even say you're in God the Father's hand, too. It says both. But you're in God's hand. Number six, and I really like showing this still, and I don't always, but sometimes I do, is the fact that salvation is a free gift. Now, that's important. Because if it's free, how can I lose it? Right? If it's absolutely free and I didn't deserve it and I did nothing to get it, how in the world could I lose that? If it's a free gift, then it's just mine forever. There's no strings attached. There's nothing extra. And you know, the Bible says that salvation is a free gift three times in basically the same breath. So, you know, sometimes when you're out there and you're talking to people and you're trying to explain the gift analogy to them, a lot of us, including myself, will use Romans 6.23, right? But, you know, just the chapter right before it even makes it more clear when it says free. Because some people get confused on a gift for some reason. I blame Santa Claus, okay? Because he doesn't give out free gifts. You have to be good in order to get them. But God doesn't give out gifts if you're good for salvation. He gives out free gifts of salvation. Now look at Romans 5, verse 15. But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one, many be dead, much more the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. So the Bible is saying that salvation is a free gift and it's by one man, Jesus Christ. You only get it by one person. Look at verse number 16 now. So this is just the next verse. We don't even have to go anywhere exotic. Just the next verse. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one to condemnation. But the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. Again, saying that salvation is a free gift and no matter how many offenses, no matter how many trespasses, no matter how many sins we have, we still get that free gift of justification. So it's like, well, I've sinned a lot. It doesn't matter how many offenses, it's still free. It's like, well, but you don't understand. I do understand. It doesn't matter how many sins, the free gift covers it. And then you have to skip verse 17, but if you look at verse 18. Therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. And, you know, if I'm showing somebody something like this in the Bible, I usually show this verse because it's a little easier to understand. But what is the one person that brought judgment upon everybody? It's Adam, right? So I just say that to them. Hey, Adam, he brought sin and made us all sinners. That's what it's saying. But it says, even so, by the righteousness of one, who is the only person who is ever righteous, Jesus Christ, the free gift came upon all men under justification of life. So Adam caused us to all be sinners, and Jesus caused us all to possibly be righteous. By what? The free gift of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. And again, that's really clear. Notice, it says, by the righteousness of one. It's not your righteousness, too. It's not you repenting or your sins, too. It's not what you do. It's not you being faithful. It's not you continuing. It's not you persevering. No, it was the righteousness of one. The free gift came upon all men under justification of life. So it's just by grace. That's what grace means, free. Did you notice that it also said it was the gift by grace in verse 15? And the gift by grace, which is by one. What does grace mean? Free. Unmerited. You didn't deserve it. It was only by Christ's righteousness, and it was simply imputed by faith. It's not something that's conditional, temporary. It's not something that you have to continue being good to keep. It was a free gift. It says it over and over. Free gift, free gift, free gift. And people, if they struggle with gift, they for some reason don't struggle with free gift. All right? Free just is a beautiful word, and it's not like we invented it. Oh, you just think salvation's free. No, the Bible says that. Over and over. It says free gift, free gift, free gift. I love that. Now, of course, if you're right here, we can continue, and look what it says in verse number 20. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. So point number six of why you can't lose your salvation is because it's free. So there's no way to ever lose that because you couldn't earn it, you couldn't deserve it, and you've already received it. It was free. Number seven is that God's grace will continue to abound over your sins. So isn't this another great point right here in Romans chapter number five of the fact like, well, but what if I sin more? Well, grace will have to abound more. But grace will abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. So even if you sin worse after getting saved than you've ever sinned before, God's grace will still abound and still cover it. That's why once you're saved, you're always saved, is because God's grace doesn't just cover the past, it covers the future. It goes in both directions, and so when I sin tomorrow, grace is going to cover that. And when I sin the next day, grace covers that again. And it's like, well, when does grace run out? It never runs out. Now, of course, should I do that? Is that a good way to live? Well, what does it say in verse one of chapter six? What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? And this is good. If you're going to ever show this point, please show this too. Because I explain to them, they're like, well, you're just saying you can just live however you want or that it doesn't matter. Well, that's the logical thought because that's literally what Paul brings up right after that, which also illustrates that we understood the point. Think about this. You show someone that verse. You know what the question they're going to ask? Well, then, should we just live however we want? And it's like, don't worry. Paul's going to ask and answer that exact question right now because that is exactly what he said. You know why you thought of that question? Because you understood exactly what the point was. The point was that you literally can't lose your salvation. The point is literally that no matter what sin you commit, grace will abound. So then what's the logical question? Should I do that? Well, then, should we just live it up? Isn't that the logical question? And then what does he say in verse two? God forbid! He doesn't say like, oh, do it. It's cool now. It's fun. God saved you by grace so that you could live like the devil. Of course not. But even if you did, you're still saved. Now, here's the thing. Do you think someone living like the devil, God's going to allow them to live for very long? No. And in fact, what is one of the first commandments with promise, or the first command with promise, is to honor thy father and thy mother, days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. So, of course, our righteousness impacts the length of our life. But it does not impact the location that I end in. I'm going to heaven based on nothing that I did. But I'm determining when I get there. Alright? You know? And if you want to get there soon, you can live like the devil. You know? But if you want to have a longer, prosperous life that's blessed, and God is pleased with you, and you're racking up rewards in heaven, well, you know what? God's going to get you there. Just like if you're on the job. The only way you're going to keep getting paid is by continuing to work. And as soon as you clock out, it's over. As soon as you clock out in this life, it's over. It's payday. And some people, well, they're not going to get much wages and not much work. And those who didn't get saved, well, their wages is to go to hell. But even if you did nothing, hey, you're still saved. And even if you sin a bunch in the future, you can't lose it because grace will continue to abound. Go to Titus chapter 1. Go to Titus chapter 1. I keep want of hammering these points. Why once you're saved, always saved? It's because you have eternal life. Number two, because you're the child of God. Number three, you're sealed by the Holy Ghost. Number five, you're in Jesus' hand. Number six, it was a free gift. Number seven, grace will continue to abound. Here's number eight. God promised us eternal life. God promises eternal life. And why that's important is because God himself cannot lie. And so we have that here in Titus chapter 1 verse 2 in hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. So I know that I have eternal life because God can't lie and he told me that if I believe in him I have eternal life. So I can rest assured that whatever he says it's going to work. Just like if you were a trapeze artist and if the net says can never break that gives you the assurance that you're not going to die because the net says it can never break. Now Ken, if it was made in China or made in Israel, don't trust that net. Alright? You're talking about a net that catches you that's Jesus Christ, that's God and he cannot lie. So that's another great truth that people like. Go to 1 John chapter 3. Go back to 1 John chapter 3. God promised eternal life and he can't lie. 1 John chapter 3. I want to look at verse number nine. John gives us a lot of great verses on eternal security in 1 John and 1 John. 1 John chapter 3 verse 9, the Bible says whosoever is born of God does not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God. Now this is a little bit more deep of a point. So if I were to try and illustrate to somebody why they can't lose their salvation I'm going to show them point one that you have eternal life. Then I'm going to show them point two and then after that, 99% of people already got it. Then I might still show them three, four, five. I'm not going to necessarily go to this one. But I think it's still good that we understand how many proves there really are. And here's another great proof though is the fact that, hey, when you're saved you cannot sin. Now that's confusing to someone that's not saved yet and doesn't even understand the difference between the new man and the old man. But just generally speaking, this is true that once you've gotten saved you can't even sin. So what could cause you to lose it? It's impossible to lose your salvation because you can't even sin! Now of course that's confusing to somebody because they'll say, well of course I can sin. Yeah, but here's the distinction. It's not you that sin, it's the old man that sins. Go to Romans chapter seven. Go to Romans chapter number seven. Well, but the Bible says that liars are going to go to hell. And the Bible says that fornicators can't enter the kingdom of heaven. And they'll show you all these verses on that. Well here's the thing, I'm not those in my new man. And my old man isn't going to heaven. They're like, oh, when you die you're going to go six feet under. Yeah, my old man, but my new man's not. And here's the thing, if you have a dead spirit, your dead spirit's not just going six feet under, it's going 6,000 feet under. Okay? Into the center of the globe. Alright? Even the flat earthers are going to, that's like an extra special punishment for them. I don't even know if they're going to, I don't even know if what's going to chap their hide more is the fact that they're burning on fire or that the earth is a sphere. Like, I don't even know. Like, they're so annoying, those people. But you know, there'll probably be a few former flat earthers when we get into heaven. Because on their way up, they're going to be like, what in the world? I was so stupid. My old man was dumb. Okay? You know. Look at Romans chapter 7, verse 20. Now, if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it but sin that dwells in me. Notice the Apostle Paul saying, hey, if I do things I don't want to do or that are not right, I didn't even do them. It was just a sin that was in me. And so, another reason why you can't lose your salvation is because once you've been born of God, once you're a child of God, once you've been saved, your new man, he cannot sin ever. He never will sin. It's only your flesh and your outward man that sins. And that's why when you walk in the Spirit, you do not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And that's why the Bible is constantly trying to hammer the idea of us walking in the Spirit. Go to Romans 8, we're right here, and look at verse 38. Here's my 10th point. My final point for why you can't lose your salvation this morning. And once you're saved, you're always saved. And it's because of the love of God. Look at verse 38. From the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Once you are saved, nothing can separate you from the love of God. That's a great promise. And that's a great understanding. Hell is not a place of love. God's not going to send anybody that's saved to hell because of the fact that nothing can separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And again, notice the object of God's love is Christ that's in us. It's not us necessarily. It's the fact that we have the imputed righteousness of Christ that has made us a new creation and we're born again in holiness and in righteousness and he loves us for what Christ has done for us. He doesn't take us to heaven because we were so good or we did something or there's something special about us inherently. It's because we put our faith in Christ and because of what Christ did, that's what gives us that love of God that can never be stripped away. That can never be taken away. We have to appreciate Christ even more for our salvation when we understand that's the reason why God loves us. The reason why God doesn't love the other people is because they don't have Christ in them. Because they haven't been born again. Because they are sinners. And here's something that's a hard truth. God hates sinners. And he's going to send them all to hell. That's why you have to believe in Jesus Christ and be born again and your new man is not a sinner. He cannot sin. He's been born in righteousness and holiness and so therefore at that point nothing can separate us from the love of God who is in Christ Jesus. And you know God wanted everybody to be redeemed. God wants everyone to be saved. But if they choose not to believe in Jesus, well he won't redeem them. And he won't love them anymore. That's why in John 3.16 it says for God so loved with a D at the end. Because there's some people that have already died and gone to hell. And God does not love them anymore. He loved them in the past. Why? Because he sent Jesus to die for them. But if they don't believe in Christ they will go to hell. Now I want to go to just a few quick passages that are what I would call opposition passages. Go to Philippians chapter 2. Go to Philippians chapter 2. And what's funny to me is anytime you look up something online like one saved, always saved, debunked, or why that's not true. You know a lot of times I'll find like a Catholic article. They'll give you all the reasons why once you're saved you're always saved in those articles. It's so funny like they'll show you all these verses and I'm just thinking like wow. But then they'll try to sneak in like other verses that are like yeah but what about this verse? And this is their opinion. Yeah some places in the Bible it makes it sound like you're already saved. But then there's these other places that make it sound like you're not so I guess we just can't know. And it's like no no no. You're just interpreting those ones wrong. And you did understand that there's plenty that say that you can't know. You know why? Because you can know! That's contradictory to say hey some passages sound like you can know and then others sound like you can't. Well both can't be true. Because you either know or you don't. You either are for sure or you're confused. But you can't be both. I'm for sure confused. This doesn't work. And of course you know when they want to teach us work salvation virtually every passage is not in the Gospel of John which revisit that last point. Additionally if you watch people that debate on these topics or discuss these topics they pretty much avoid almost every verse I showed you and don't want to talk about those verses at all. They only want to go to these weird cryptic passages and us argue about those. Because the ones I showed were just so clear so evident. But let's look at a few opposition passages for a moment. Philippians chapter 2 look at verse 12. Wherefore my beloved as ye have always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. So they'll say oh see you have to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Well is there any context with this? Yes absolutely. Is the word salvation or saved always mean the same thing? No. Number one the apostle Peter which was the disciple at the time was drowning in the sea and looked up at Jesus and said Lord save me. That was not when he asked to go to heaven. He was not wanting to drown and die. There's other passages in the Bible that talk about women being saved and child bearing. You don't have to give birth to go to heaven. That's not what saves you. So that's not again talking about spiritual salvation. What if we just use the book itself where it brings up salvation and other passages to see what it even means. What if you look at chapter 1 verse 19? This is the apostle Paul speaking for I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ. Now is anybody going out there teaching that in order for Paul to be saved other people have to pray for him. I guess this is where you get that like praying people out of purgatory or something. But this is not what it's talking about. The apostle Paul in the context of Philippians is in jail. And he thinks that he's very confident in fact that he's going to be released from jail and he's going to be saved from jail. And he's thinking why is he going to be saved from jail? Because the Philippians are praying to God and asking for God to deliver Paul out of jail. Now do you think that makes sense? Yes, that's exactly what it's talking about. And if you read this passage in context you'll get that point. I want you to understand, look at verse 25 and having this confidence I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith. He's talking about how he's like he wants to die kinda and he would like to but he's confident that he's not going to die and he's going to be saved from jail and he's going to come unto them and he's going to see them again. That's what the whole context is. If you look a little further in this chapter look at verse 28 when he's talking to them. And in nothing terrified by your adversaries which is to them an evident token of perdition but to you of salvation and that of God. Now here's the thing in verse 28 what I want to point out is not necessarily the salvation word there but it's really the adversaries word. Why? He's talking to Philippians saying you have adversaries. Okay. If you look at verse number 29 for unto you it is given on the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake. What do adversaries bring? Suffering. Okay. Then he says in verse 30 having the same conflict which ye saw in me and now here to be in me. So he's saying I have adversaries I'm suffering and then he's saying having the same conflict saying you have adversaries and you're suffering Why? Paul and the Philippians have the same conflict. If they have the same conflict what is the apostle Paul hoping for? That their prayer will give them what? Salvation. Okay. And then what is he describing to them in Philippians chapter number 2? That they would work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. Meaning that if they're serving God with fear and trembling and doing right that God will deliver them and save them from what? From their adversaries. That's the whole context of the passage of Philippians is that they would be delivered and saved from their adversaries just like the apostle Paul would be delivered and saved from prison and from his adversaries. It has nothing to do with going to heaven. It's a saved person talking to other saved people. And since we both know we can't lose our salvation, we're going to talk about something else. And again, there's always a time and a place even amongst saved people. Let's discuss one saved always saved. You know what? Tonight I'm not going to teach you how to get saved again. And then the next Sunday morning and the next Wednesday night you know that doesn't make a lot of sense. That's why the apostle Paul when he's writing to the churches and the epistles, he's not really emphasizing salvation a ton. Because he's already talking to saved people. Maybe in Galatians he does a little bit because they're screwed up on that point. But generally speaking the epistles are different subjects. So this salvation is not a salvation of going to heaven or hell. Notice it did not say in verse number 12 of chapter 2 eternal life going to heaven. Anything about that. Just generally, you don't want to just interpret words without any context or any idea of what was being talked about. So the context? They have adversaries. They're suffering. They have the same conflict that the apostle Paul does. Okay. That is the context upon the salvation upon which we find. So this point is just immediately debunked. Go to Romans chapter 13. Go to Romans chapter 13. I want to show you just a couple more. Romans chapter 13, look at verse number 11. And I'm trying to debunk points that are about eternal security specifically. A lot of opposition just to being saved is James 2, faith that works is dead. That's not necessarily like something that's describing eternal life directly. So I'm kind of going to passages that are more focused on eternal life. Here's one that says in verse 11 in that knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep for now is there salvation nearer than when we believed? It's kind of crazy where they're like, we're going to discard everything we've learned this morning for this verse. Okay. But it's like, this is them proving that salvation is not a time, like a one time event, but it's like a process or it's going to happen sometime in the future. But think about this. Okay, well we already read that we are the children of God. We already have everlasting life. Are we going to totally negate that? But did you even notice that in this verse, it says believed it's like that already happened. So meaning that if I think about what this verse is actually saying, in times past there was a moment when I believed and then what happened? I had salvation. Now it's saying I'm approaching that, I'm getting closer to that. What is that I'm getting closer to? Being saved or the time in which I'm going to die physically and be saved from hell and saved from the judgment of God? That's what it's describing. It's certainly not talking about the idea that well, I'm working towards getting saved eventually. No, I've already believed I already have salvation, yet it's getting closer every second. But that doesn't mean that I don't already have salvation. I want to show you this. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 3. Salvation does have a future component, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm already saved. The future component is just simply the event of the judgment of God and specifically when you die that you're not going to hell. When I die, I'm not going to go to hell. That's an aspect of salvation. And when God has the great white throne judgment I'm not going to be cast in the lake of fire because my name's written down in the book The Lamb's Book of Life. That event hasn't happened. So yeah, those two events will happen. But I'm already saved. Because remember I got that earnest until the redemption. And I'm going to get a new body in the future. That hasn't happened either. But that doesn't mean that I'm not saved. I'm already saved. It's already a past tense object. Now, I want to show you what, you know, from a timeline perspective that salvation is going to happen in the future, but it doesn't change that this person was saved in times past. Now look at 1 Corinthians 3 verse 11. Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ. Once you're saved it's by believing in Jesus and you have that foundation. Now, if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. So you get saved. That was foundation. Then if you decide to serve God, that's the works that you're building upon that foundation. But if you don't have the foundation you're going to hell. The foundations will get you into heaven. The works on top of it, those are extra. And we're going to judge those to determine if you get a reward or if you don't get a reward. It says in verse 14 if any man's work abide which he has built there upon, he shall receive a reward. So if you serve God, you get a reward. If it doesn't abide, what does it say in verse 15? If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss. But he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. So notice that moment in time when you're at the judgment seat of Christ, there's a salvation that's being described there. And I'm getting nearer to that point in time. But that doesn't mean that I'm not saved already. I'm already saved. I already have the foundation of Jesus Christ laid. Yes. Is our salvation something that's future to? Yes. But that doesn't mean that I don't have it already. So that's just another misleading point that people who are unsaved may cherry pick or take out of there. Go to chapter 9. For a second time, I'm not going to use all these. John 15 is another one that I'll go to about abiding in the vine. And if you don't, then you'll be burned. But think about what we just read. Isn't this guy being burnt, but then he's still saved? So you can literally be burned and still be saved. Now, is that like a purgatory? Is that like a hell? No. And even in this life, if you don't serve God, God could cause you to die by fire. There's a couple different examples of this, but think about the young prophet in the Old Testament. There's a young prophet who ends up getting tricked by an old prophet, and then as a result of disobeying God, God sends a lion to kill him. So it's just like, just because you're saved doesn't mean that God won't kill you in a dramatic fashion. In 1 Corinthians 5, I know you're in 9, in 1 Corinthians 5, the guy who's committing fornication, he specifically will be destroyed by the devil, yet he's still going to be, his spirit's going to be saved in the day of redemption. So, you know, again, you can be destroyed. I'm not going to go down that point too far. 1 Corinthians 9, look at verse 27. The Bible says, He doesn't want to be a castaway. You can lose your salvation because Paul doesn't want to be a castaway. You know, again, it doesn't bring up eternal life, it doesn't say, thou shalt lose eternal life, you're going to hell, it's just generic. But what does that mean? Well, what does it say in verse 24? Paul doesn't want to lose his reward. He doesn't want to be a castaway in the sense that he loses that prize that he was running for, so therefore he keeps under his body that he's not a castaway in that context. Has nothing to do with eternal life and has everything to do with reward. Go to Matthew 7, we'll finish. Matthew 7, and just to kind of recap, once you're saved, you're always saved because number one, you have eternal life. Number two, you're a child of God. Number three, you're sealed by the Holy Ghost. Number four, you've been passed from death into life. Number five, you're in Jesus' hand. Number six, you have a free gift. Number seven, grace will continue to abound. Number eight, because you've been promised from God that cannot lie. Number nine, you can't even sin. And number ten, nothing can separate you from the love of God. Now, in Matthew chapter 7, this is another passage that people will often bring up in the idea that you can lose your salvation. But, it doesn't say that. In fact, it says the opposite. They'll point to verse 21. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, So, they're saying, oh, you have to do the will of the Father. But, if you look that up in John chapter 6, verse 40, the will of the Father is the belief on Jesus Christ. And, if you even read the rest of this passage, it says, Many will say to me that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in the name of cast out devils, and in the name of many wonderful works, and then, while I profess them, I never knew you, depart from me that work iniquity. Notice, he's, oh, he didn't have enough righteousness. They're sinful. That's what they'll say. Notice, they're workers of iniquity. Well, that's a problem, because the Bible says, for all have sinned. So, if you don't go to heaven because you're sinful, no one's making it. The reason why they're sinful is because they never got saved. Because, remember, the person who's saved can't sin. And, notice this, how could you ever use this to prove that you lost your salvation when he said specifically that I never knew you? At what point was this person ever saved? And, think about it this way, if being saved means I don't go to hell, if it means I don't die in hell forever, and I've never done that, like, who's been to hell? I've never been to hell, I've never died forever in hell. Okay, imagine if, at some point in my life, I was, quote, saved, and then later I die and then go to hell, when was I ever saved? At what point was I saved, and what was I saved from? So, there's no way to lose your salvation because the fact is that people who don't go to hell were always saved, and the people that go to hell are never saved. There's no, like, well, I went to hell for, you know, a while, and then I got out because I was saved, and then I got thrown back in. You know, the only person that really does that is, like, the devil and the Antichrist, okay? But you know what, they didn't, like, lose their salvation. That's not what it's talking about. And when people talk about losing their salvation, they're not saying, like, well, I died and went to hell for a while, then I came out, then I had to go back in, then I came out. They're, like, in their mind just playing this game of, like, I'm saved, but I'm not, I'm saved, I'm not. Imagine if you were, like, dating somebody, and you said, like, well, we were married, and then we were not married, and then we got married, and then we're not married. It's like, when did you get married? Well, we never did. But in my mind, we were just married, and then we're not married. Like, you either got married or you didn't. Right? And you're either saved or you're not. And once you're saved, God knows you, and you can't get out of His hand. The reason why you go to hell is because He never knew you. Because, you know what, you never had eternal life, you were never a child of God, you were never sealed by the Holy Ghost, you never passed from death into life, you were never in Jesus' hand, you were never given the free gift, you don't have any of God's grace, you're not promised eternal life because you didn't believe in Him, okay? And you do sin, and you don't have the love of God anymore. The grace and love of God was only extended to you while you were alive, and you rejected those, and so you no longer have them. You don't see life, you have the wrath of God upon you for the rest of eternity. But the Bible is crystal clear that once you're saved, you're always saved. I want to go to one more place, go to 2 Timothy chapter 3, because I think this verse is important too. Why preach this? Well, number one, God wants us to know that salvation is eternal so that we will believe in Him. That's why I think it's, again, important to know this to be saved. You have to believe salvation is eternal and we believe in Him is because He's offering us eternal life. That's why we even believed in Him in the first place. That was what the record that God gave His Son is He had given us eternal life and His life is in His Son. If Jesus wasn't offering us eternal life, what would we be believing for? What would we be believing to obtain or to acquire? It doesn't even really matter. The reason why we believe in Jesus is because He's offering us eternal life through what He did. If you believe, that's what it means to trust. If you're thinking you have to get to heaven by what you do, you're not trusting in Him. And you're not believing in Him and you're not thinking He's giving you anything. Number two, it's important to realize and believe that you are a child of God and that it will never change because then there's no reason to ever stop being good. Like, what's so funny is the accusation is if you think you could never lose your salvation, you won't be good. But it's actually the opposite that's true. Because if you think that getting to heaven is being good, well, once you screw up enough, you just quit trying because you think there's no point anymore. It's kind of like swimming across the ocean. You know, if we just dropped you in the middle of the ocean and said swim to Europe, most people might swim a little bit. Just because, just that instinct of not wanting to die. But then they're going to get to a point when they're like, I can't make it. I know I can't make it. It's impossible for me to make it. So they'll just quit swimming, and they'll die. Whereas once you're saved and you're always a child of God, you know, like, there's no reason for me to stop trying to please God because I'm going to see Him no matter what. So I'm not motivated to quit because I know, hey, there's always a reason to try to be good. There's always a reward on the table. There's always God being pleased with me. And there's always not wanting to get punished. And so there's no reason to ever give up on God when you're saved. If you're not saved and you're a reprobate, they're not trying to seek the pleasure of God. They know that they're destined to hell. That's why they don't try at all. That's why they don't want to try. But those of us that are saved, we should always try. Always get back up. A just man falls seven times but he rises up again. And because we're saved forever, we need to use that to give God glory, to give Him the honor. Because you doing something good illustrates not that you are trying to get to heaven but that you appreciate God. If you go out and preach the gospel today, you're different than Jehovah's Witnesses. They think they have to do that to go to heaven. If you give all the glory to God, you know what gives glory to them? Them. Oh, look at them, and look what they're doing. We go out and we preach, it's going to give all the glory to God because I don't have to do that to go to heaven. I'm doing it because I want God to save someone else and to give that free gift to somebody else. And I want to go out and praise what God did. Think about the Jehovah's Witness message. Hey, come and be an amazing person like me and you might go to heaven. Or you might just take a really long nap. Homeless people are like, I'm already a soul sleeper. What do you mean? They don't even do anything anyways. I mean, what kind of a life is that? You know, that's why they walk so slow. Their hope is to become a sleeper. Right? Sleepwalking. They're just zombies. You know, we actually have hope. We actually have good news. We have the grace of God. We have a free gift that we're giving. I'm not soliciting. I'm giving out a free gift. And I can't even give it. I can just tell you how to get it. And so let us be eternally grateful and show God why we're grateful by going out and preaching the gospel. Let's close in prayer. Thank you Heavenly Father so much for giving us an eternal salvation through your son Jesus Christ and his sacrifice and his righteousness and for giving us the love of God through Christ Jesus. I pray that we would be motivated to serve you because of how good you are, because of how much grace you give us, because of what you've done for us already. I pray that we would understand that we've already trusted, we've already believed, that we already have eternal life. And even though we can't lose that, that it's still important to give you honor and glory in this life and that you'll still reward us for the works that we do. And I pray that you would help motivate us to give you the good news about the free gift and about what Christ has done so that you can get more honor and glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, for our last song, very fitting song this morning, 149, Trusting Jesus. 149, Trusting Jesus. Song 149. Every day. Trusting through a stormy way. Even when my faith is strong. Trusting Jesus, that is all. Trusting as the moment's light. Trusting as the days go by. Trusting him on every wall. Trusting Jesus, that is all. Writing of his spirit shine. Into this whole heart of mine. While he leads I care a call. Trusting Jesus, that is all. Trusting as the moment's light. Trusting as the days go by. Trusting him on every wall. Trusting Jesus, that is all. Singing if my way is clear. Praying if the path be clear. Live in danger for him long. Trusting Jesus, that is all. Trusting as the moment's light. Trusting as the days go by. Trusting him on every wall. Trusting Jesus, that is all. Trusting him, my life shall last. Trusting him till earth be cast. Till we live against the wall. Trusting Jesus, that is all. Trusting as the moment's light. Trusting as the moment's light. Trusting as the days go by. Trusting him on every wall. Trusting Jesus, that is all. Thank you all for coming. God bless. You are dismissed. Thank you.