John 10, 27-29. Here we have the Lord Jesus speaking. He says, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them you is greater Sorry about the noise. My father which is greater, my father which gave him to me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck one out of my father's mouth. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, gracious and holy God, we praise your holy name. Thank you for the word of God that we have before us today. Thank you for this great truth of the keeping power of God in Christian. I pray, Lord, you give us understanding today. Lead us, like Christ, be lifted up. Do the work in hearts of the Lord, you know it's needed. Give me clearness in my thoughts and speech and touch listeners ears, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. So, as we deal with the subject, really, in perseverance of the saints, we're dealing with, I see it in three ways, so there's three different viewpoints. Can this bag be moved to the back now? Oh, I didn't know that. Thank you. So, there's three ways of looking at it. You have, on one side, people believe that you can lose your salvation, right? Many of the charismatics, I guess probably all of the charismatics, um, would believe that, I don't know if there's any cessationists or semi cessationists that would believe you can lose your salvation. Um, I don't know. I mean, uh, we call people that are non-Calvinists, Armenians, but true Armenians believe you can lose your salvation. Um, and so, uh, Wesley didn't believe you can lose your salvation, did he? Yeah, it would kind of fit into his theology that you can lose it. And so that, believe it or not, is the larger, that's the most dominant view in Christianity, which I call Christendom, as they say, but not necessarily. There's a lot of professing Christians that believe you can lose your salvation, and that's such a dangerous doctrine. Some believe that you can lose it Some are more, I guess, detailed about it and say that you have to repent of every single sin that you ever committed. If you don't repent of every sin, you can lose your salvation. Other people say that you have to deny, you know, the gospel in order to lose your salvation. Or, I don't know, does anybody know of any other, what are the prerequisites for losing your salvation? besides denying fame, as I just mentioned, or grievance of the Holy Spirit. Oh, right. As the Lord Jesus said, that all sinners should be except those who ask me against the Holy Spirit. Right, the big question of the ages is what is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? Which I'm not going to answer that today. I have an answer for it, but I'm not going to answer it because I don't want to get into that. But clearly, I think because of the mass amount of Pentecostals all over the world, which are probably, I don't know, 60% of the product in church. They're dominated by this view that you can lose your salvation. And like my dad says, I mentioned a couple months ago, if it's your salvation, then you can lose it. Which is, it's a play on words, you know. It's the work of God in the heart, as we just read, right? If Christ called you, and you're saved by his hand, and you're saved by the Father's decree, then you cannot be lost. Because it's God's work. So you have the one view where you can. Hello? Can everybody make sure their phone's on mute, please? I was going to say yes, because salvation is of the Lord. And what he does, he does. And you can't lose it. Once he do it, you can't lose it. Amen. Amen. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tell you to put your foot on me. Amen. You can't lose it. But then you have the other side of the equation, where people go too far in the other direction. and people that use the word eternal security, which is a good term. I think eternal security does describe the believer's established position that we cannot be unsaved once we're saved. But again, the problem is, another problem I should say, is the fact that people say, well, once you're saved, It doesn't matter how you live. It doesn't matter if you're barefoot. You're safe. You're safe forever. That's it. I mean, people take that so far. I've talked to people and people in the church I used to go to, they kind of vary on this point, but some of them go so far as to say, if you, they go so far to say that if you reject and deny the gospel, once you, you know, said the prayer, you're still safe. I had one guy one time, who was actually a pastor in that group of churches, who wanted to almost fist fight me, literally, because I told him, I think Bob Dylan's lost. The reason he wanted to fist fight me almost, he was so angry when I said that, because you guys, I think everybody's old enough here, somebody might not be old enough, but everybody's old enough here to remember. Do you remember that Bob Dylan actually made two Christian albums? He made this Profession of Faith in the early 80s, late 70s, maybe? Late 70s, I think it was. Do you remember, Danny? Oh, my mom bought the albums and we used to listen to them. He actually had, did you know that? Yeah, he made two Christian, Slow Train Coming was one of them. It was one of the ones I remember specifically. And it was about Christ's second coming, actually. And anyways, but after that, Bob Dylan now and after that just blatantly denies the gospel. I think he's into some kind of Eastern mysticism, just totally denies the gospel. And so we got into this conversation and I told him, I used him as an example. And this guy got so angry at me, he wanted to almost fight me. because I said that Bob Dylan was lost because he totally denied confession. So these people take it so far with this eternal security that they say that, you know, you can live as an adulterer without repenting and you can live as a drunk, doesn't matter. You can deny the faith, doesn't matter. You're saved because you said the prayer and you signed the card and you are in no matter what happens. And that is, We don't realize, so those two views, you can lose your salvation, or this idea of, you know, eternal security taken, maybe we can call it hyper-eternal security. Those two views are probably, what would you say, 90% of Christianity? Literally. Probably 90%, I mean it's, and all the Arminian fundamentalists would all hold to Once you're saved, you're saved forever, no matter what. And that's what they say. And yet all the charismatics, which is a huge part of the church, professed church, I should say, hold to the fact that you can lose your salvation. But really, both are in error. Both are in error. But I want to ask you a question. What do you do with Hebrews? Turn to Hebrews chapter 6. So there are, I thought a good exercise for us might be to look at some of these verses that people would use to defend these two erroneous views and try to understand, well, what are these texts saying? So Hebrews chapter six and verses four through six is the paramount text for those who say you can lose your salvation. This is the one they'll go to most often is in Hebrews six, four through six. It says there, for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, if they fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame. So do you see that there? Do you see how they're getting it? is impossible for those who were once enlightened. They're saved, right? They've tasted of the heavenly gift. And that's Hebrews 6, 4, maybe. Hebrews 6, 4. Hebrews 6, 4, yeah. So they were once enlightened. They tasted of the heavenly gift. There it is even further. They were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. and tasted of the Word of God. I mean, it sounds like these people were saved, right? But now they fall away in verse 6, never to be brought back, never coming to repentance again. What do you do with that verse? What do you think? Sorry about the noise. I think it's running more than... No, it's actually the heat pump. But, you can take the thumb pump, I don't know. Anyway, Hebrews chapter, so what do you do with Hebrews 4-6? What do you think? Pay attention to it. What does it mean though? Does it mean that people can read it so much? So, you can experience the power of the Spirit. Right. Go ahead. Yeah. Yeah. So what do you think, Tony? Do you think you can lose it then? Right, well let's look at, there's an interpretive tool that we should understand, right? So when I read this verse, I know what it's not saying. It's like a verse, like, let's take one in like 1 John 3, 9. 1 John 3, 9, you see the same principle. Not the same doctrine, but the same principle on how to interpret. 1 John 3, 9, this is where a lot of the people go into error, it says, Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. Wow! Doesn't that say Christians don't sin? It sure sounds like it. Oh, really? What does it say in the original? Yeah. You can't continue in sin. But even without knowing Greek, we can know what it doesn't mean. That's the tool I want you to understand. Because we know in 1 John 1.8, whosoever is born of God. I mean, whosoever says they do not sin is a liar. I'm paraphrasing a little bit. You probably know that one. And then 1 John 1.10. But there's many verses. Like, we're going through Ephesians right now. And it's telling Christians to stop doing this, stop sinning, stop sinning, right? As we've learned. So you can see there's hundreds of verses that talk about Christian sinning, right? And so when you run into one that sounds different, you could automatically say to yourself, well, I know what this verse is not saying. I know what this verse is not saying because I know 30 other verses that say something different. And so it is with, I think, Hebrews chapter 6, 4 through 6. I know what it doesn't mean. Yeah? I was going to say, in verse 7, it basically says that you'll bring forth fruit. And verse 8 says that if you don't bring forth fruit, you're going to be rejected. Right. In 1 John 3? No, in Hebrews. In Hebrews. But the interesting thing in Hebrews, if you just go down a few verses, if you go back to Hebrews 6, in Hebrews 6, I don't know, I guess you could do 17, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show under the air of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the oath set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil. So you see that right in the same chapter, you have a verse that is talking, one second, Jay, let me finish this thought. In the same chapter, you have a verse that contradicts the fact that 4 through 6 was saying that you can lose your salvation. And I would agree with Jim, that these people here, who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted of the good word, they were not truly born again. And we see that all the time. There's people that come into churches and they learn the Bible, they're excited about it, right? They're like thorny ground hearers, right? Or stony ground hearers. They come, they hear, they're excited about it. During revivals, that happens wholesome. You can read about revivals and there's thousands and even tens of thousands of unconverted people swept into the church, and they're moved in their emotions, they sense the power of the Holy Spirit, and they're not even saved. They learn the Word of God, and they can articulate it even to some degree, and yet they're not truly converted. They never were truly born again. In Matthew 7, Jesus said, I never need you. Many will say, Lord, Lord, haven't we done all these things in your name? Jesus said, depart from me, I never knew you. And those that were doing all those miracles and good things in Jesus' name, that he lists there in Matthew 7, could fit into this category in Hebrews chapter 6. And yet he says, I never knew you. He didn't say I knew you when you got lost, but I never knew you. Go ahead, Jay. And there is a, there's two sides to that. One, we're eternally kept by Christ because He's ever interceding for us. And we recognize that. We recognize the eternal decrees of God, like we read in John 10. Therefore, we know that we will be kept to the end. Therefore, you work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. You must do it. It's not like we sit back and we say, I'm saved and I have eternal security. We definitely say that. But that will always cause us to do something about it. All right, how many scripture verses say things like that? You know, like Roman Day 13. If you live after the flesh, you shall die, but if you, through the Spirit, are mortified and lead to the flesh, you shall live. You know, the famous one in Philippians 2, 12, and 13, where Paul says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Verse 12 and 13, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. If God has done this work in us and we're eternally secure because the Spirit of God dwells in us and we have all of our confidence in Christ, it's going to cause us to do something, right? The Spirit of God is going to move us to live differently and to bear fruit and to mortify sin and to participate in the church and to, you know, all the things that the Scripture is commanding us to do. And we'll get into that next week, or probably the following week when we get into assurance. I don't want to, and there is a fine line between perseverance and assurance, and I don't want to cross that line because assurance and salvation is the next chapter. So. Right. James chapter one. I believe it's chapter one. What's that? Sure. All right, so let's move on to the confession, then, unless anybody else has anything to add about, you know, so there's these three, you know, views. You either believe you can lose your salvation, you either have this erroneous view, I'm gonna call it hyper-eternal security, where, you know, you can just live with no fruit, and it doesn't matter if you say it because you did the thing, whatever it is, which is also in error. Or the third option, then, is this doctrine of the perseverance of the saint. And in the doctrine of the perseverance of the saint, let me just say this before we get into the paragraph in the confession. The doctrine of perseverance of the saint says that, well, it comes from, where did the Lord Jesus say, if you persevere to the end, you'll be saved? Yeah, things like that. Paul said that in 2 Timothy 3, but the Lord Jesus said, those that, did he say persevere to the end, did he say? But that's where the, that's where the idea comes from. In other words, As Christians, we will hold on to our profession until we die, right? Because our lives have been transformed that we cannot turn back. There could be times when we do fall away in one sense, and we do fall into sin, and we do meet with much trouble that could make it appear as if we're not truly born again. But if we're truly born again, we will come back, right? We will repent and be brought back into fellowship with Christ. And I think because we don't have anything else, right? Do you got anything else? I don't have anything else. Like Peter said to Jesus, where else are we going to go? You have the words of eternal life. We've already been convinced that these are the words of eternal life. We can't go anywhere else, so we will persevere through the trials, through the worldliness that will tempt us, the inward sin that plagues us. The Christian will persevere in their perfection and in bearing fruit until the end, because it is the work of God in us, right? not because we're keeping our salvation by our own power, not because we don't want to lose our salvation, but because it is the work of the Spirit of God in us. And so those who are mere professors and not possessors of Christ, they will not persevere. They will be taken by the world, or sin will overcome them, or they will not have a profession of Christ. The scary thing is, You know the scary thing? Really scary. You could sit in church for 30, 40, 50 years in America and be a hypocrite, and nobody would know. And you wouldn't know until you stood before the Lord. That is scary. Isn't it? I mean, I think the churches are full of them. Full of people who sit there and say, I'm saved, and I know I'm saved, and I'm saved, and that's it. And they'll never know until they die. And that is something really sobering to consider. We all have to consider our own profession and our own lifestyle and how God is working in us. None of us are exempt from that. I mean, I would rather doubt my salvation every day of my life and go to heaven. than to sit here and say, I'm saved, I'm saved every day, telling myself that and go to hell. Now, I'm not saying Christians shouldn't have assurance. And like I said, we're going to get into that when we get into the next chapter. But there's a time to sit down and take an inventory for every believer. Self-examination. You're right. I was saying self-examination. We should constantly examine ourselves. The Word of God, you know, He was saying to us, you know, and my favorite one is Romans 6. It says, you know, what shall we say then, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? You know, God forbid, and that just stands right out for itself. He forbid us to sin, you know, because a lot of times I've heard a lot of people that have been saying, oh, oh, I can, I'll sin tomorrow. My sins are already before. But God said He forbid us to sin, you know, but He said if you fall, but he's not saying, go ahead and sin. You know, a lot of people, I said, no, that's not what the word is saying. God forbid, you know. Amen. Yeah. At a certain point though, it's interesting, you know, let me say this and then you can say that to me. It's interesting that both the Lord Jesus, and I think you can see it in Matthew five and Paul, in Romans 3, 8, and then at the end of Romans 5. My point is they were both accused of being antinomians. They were both accused of saying, you're telling people they can save and just live however they want. You know, they accused Christ of wanting to get rid of the law. And in Romans 3, 8, it says, as we be slanderous or reported and some affirm that we say, let us do evil that good may come. So there were people saying that about Paul. That's why by the end of Romans 5, when he says, we're grace abounds, we're sin abounds, grace does much more abound, right? Well, that sounds like he's saying we're sin abounds, grace does much more abound. So then let's go sin then, right? We'll get more grace. And then he answers it right in the next verse, which is the verse you quote in 6.1. God, shall we continue in sin and grace may abound. God forbid. So my point is, though, in our gospel preaching, Spurgeon says, if we're never accused of being antinomians, we should check. I'm paraphrasing, but he says we should check on our gospel presentation. Because at a certain point, people should say to us, unbelievers, especially the ones that would be more religious and self-righteous, they should say to us at a certain point, well, if that's true, If we're saved by grace alone, through Christ alone, if that's true, then we can just go and do whatever we want then and still be saved. And I've had people say that to me, and I said, oh, good. But then you can clarify for them, obviously, like Paul did. Because the message of grace is the message of grace. We're solely saved by grace and not by anything we do. But if that's true, Right? It is the power of God working in us to bring us to that point of grace. And by the power of God, His children will persevere, will be able to obey Christ, will be able to, like I said, mortify sin, will be able to use the means of grace to grow in grace. And by the power of God, the fruit of the Spirit is being developed, it's being increased in the believer. Go ahead, Jay. It's interesting because you're reading Hebrews. Where's that Hebrews? 2 Peter 2. Oh, 2 Peter 2. Because Hebrews, I'm thinking of Hebrews because in Hebrews, you know, there's only really three main themes that run through the book of Hebrews. There's other sub-themes, but three main ones. Christ is better than, Christ is better than angels, better than the Old Testament sacrifices, better than the old priesthood. Christ is better than the main themes of Hebrews. Then you have faith, right? There's a lot to talk faith in the book of Hebrews, but then you have this, there's lots of warnings in Hebrews. Some of the, some of the most vivid warnings in the New Testament are in the book of Hebrews after so you know, profoundly speaking of Christ being better than, you know, better than everything. And yet, mixed in with that, you have the warnings in the book of Hebrews. So there's, the Christian should never take it for granted. We don't presume upon God. Yes, we have confidence. We know that these things are true because He has decreed them. and that we are in Christ and we stand confidently, but at the same time, there's a fine line there between confidence and presumption. God is not obligated to me in any way, shape, or form, other than the fact that he's given, you have all the doctrines of what he's done for us. There's two sides to it, and it is a paradox. It is a paradox. I heard this guy tell this, I guess it was a joke, but an illustration he used, where he said, this man would go to this lake every day, and he would eat his lunch at the lake, because there was a lake right on the premises where he worked. And when he would go to the one side of the lake and eat his sandwich, there was a duck there, and he would give the duck a piece of bread for his sandwich. And so he got tired of feeding the ducks, so he went to the other side of the lake. And the duck was there, too. The duck, like, followed him there. So it was there before he got there. And he gave him the bread, too. And he's thinking, like, how does this duck know where I'm going? And he looked across the pond, and there was a pair of ducks. A pair of ducks. And a paradox is when two things are both true, but they seem to be in contradiction, right? Or not true at the same time. And so if both are true, then we have confidence in Christ, and we are assured of our salvation, and the believers will persevere. But we don't take that for granted. that there are things that will be evidence in the people's lives. We're really crossing over into assurance. We better get to the paragraph. I promise we weren't going to cross over into assurance. But it's hard not to when you talk about perseverance. But then let's stick to the paragraph. Let's go to paragraph one. Unless anybody had one more thing to add. Sorry about the paradox, that's kind of weird. Those whom God has accepted, in paragraph one, in the Beloved, affectionately called and sanctified by his Spirit, and given the precious faith of his elect unto, can neither totally nor finally fall from his state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved seeing the gifts and callings of God are without repentance, whence he still begets and nourishes in them faith, repentance, love, joy, hope, and all the graces of the Spirit unto immortality. And though many storms and floods arise and beat against them, yet they shall never be able to take them off that foundation and rock which by faith are fastened upon. Notwithstanding, through unbelief of the temptations of Satan, the sensible sight of the light and love of God may for a time be clouded and obscured from them. Yet he is still the same, and they shall be sure to be kept by the power of God unto salvation, where they shall enjoy their purchased possession they being engraven upon the palm of His hand, and their names having been written in the Book of Life from all eternity. Amen. So the first verses you see there are the ones that we read at the beginning of the class in John 10, where no one will be plucked out of Christ's hand and no one will be plucked out of the Father's hand who Christ has called, and we've heard His voice. But look in Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6, there's another common verse there that you see in the Confession that talks about Christ's keeping power, that He will keep those who are His. We are saved by Christ and we are secured by Christ. Philippians chapter 1 and verse number 6, it says, I can almost quote it, I think I can quote it, but let's read it. Being confident of this very thing, that he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. This is our confidence that Christ will keep his own. It is what causes us to persevere, to continue on, because we look to him and we know his keeping power. 2 Timothy 2.19, if you wanted to look there, is the next verse, under A. There's three verses under A. Or is there four? There's four, actually. It says, 2 Timothy 2.19, Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth true, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His, and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." So there you have both sides of the paradox, right? We have this foundation that is sure in the Lord, and we trust in Him, we're confident in Him, therefore depart from iniquity, right? Therefore you'll have the fruit of it. The work of God in our hearts. Second, 1 John 2.19 says, they went out from us. They went out from us, but they were not of us. Or if they had been of us, they would, no doubt, have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not of us. And I think the us there would be the apostles, or those close to the apostles. The church, yeah, and I guess the thing is, back then, you know, you had, there was one church in Ephesus, you know, and one church in Corinth, and they were, you know, all united. But, like, in Philadelphia, someone can leave this church, and it doesn't mean they're not saved, right? They can go to another church that's preaching the gospel. And so, but yet, if they leave the church, They go out from the church, it just shows they were never saved. Because God will always bring his people, right? It's one evidence, it's the great evidence in the first song. The great evidence of salvation, there's Jeremiah just walked by. The great evidence of salvation is that we are, that we love the brethren. That we're united to those who are in Christ. It's an evidence that we are persevering. And sometimes persevering in the church can be difficult, but yet God gives us grace and love for the brethren. And so it goes on in Psalm 89, which is B, you see there in your outline, which is all the way down. near the end of the paragraph, where it says, Though unbelief and the temptations of Satan, the sensible sight of the light and love of God may for a time be clouded and obscured from them, yet he is still the same, and they shall be sure to be kept by the power of God. So in Psalm chapter 89, if you want to look there, Psalm chapter 89, In verses 31 and 32. Psalm 89, 31, 32. If they break my statutes and keep not my commandments, then while I visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes." Or 1 Corinthians 11 32, you also see in the confession, but when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world. That's 1 Corinthians 11 32. So believers, that fall into sin or drift away will be disciplined, right? And Hebrews chapter 12 says if you're not disciplined, then you're an illegitimate child. You're not truly one of Christ. Christ will always bring his people back to himself through chastening, through the word of God, through his love, through his brethren. even falling under church discipline, but Christ will bring his people back to himself. So they can't walk away. Do you see that? Jay? Yeah, it's what we said earlier. Those that say, you know, I'm going to go sin because Jesus died on the cross for my sins. There's no forgiveness for that sin. Because you're mocking the very sacrifice they paid for your sins. How can there be forgiveness for the very thing that you're taking that was meant for forgiveness and you're abusing it or misusing it? So, um... And our song is amazing. Well, was that before she was saved, or she was saying that she was a Christian doing that? Wow. I mean, somebody could, a true Christian could fall into the most wicked sins, but they're not going to justify it and say, well, it's okay. I mean, it depends on how you say that, I guess. But God forbid that Christians do fall into terrible sin at times. It's up to you what you want to do, but God holds the consequences. He determines the consequences. But yeah, a Christian, like Michelle mentioned, that verse we mentioned earlier in 1 John 3, it does not continue. And that's the Christian. A Christian lives in broken sin. We sin and then repent, sin and then repent. But an unbeliever, a hypocrite who professes, they live in this continual pattern of sin with no true repentance. And so really, it's not even the degree of the wickedness although that is part of it, but it's more has to do with repentance. Like somebody can live in a secret sin that no one else knows about, and they can live in a sin that seems kind of small or insignificant. But if there's no repentance for that sin, then that sin will bring them to hell. I mean, God works repentance in the hearts of His children. And at the same time, somebody may sin in a way that's very obviously wrong and immoral, and they're brought to true repentance, and they're brought to looking to Christ, and they're forgiven. Do you see that? So it's really that true repentance in the heart. But God forbid that we would participate in sin. And if someone justifies it by saying, Christ died for me, therefore I'm going to go out and commit fornication, then I think that's what that verse is talking about. And so Malachi chapter 3 and verse 6 says, For I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. You read the Old Testament and you think, you know, Several times that God says to Moses, at least a couple of times, I'm done with them, you know. He tells them, you know, very explicitly, I'm just going to get rid of them and start a new nation with you. Right. And yet God, um, preserves them by his grace and, uh, his people will be preserved. They will persevere. And so. Let's go to the second paragraph. I think we have enough time to at least touch on it, 10 minutes. It says in paragraph two, this perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the grace of election flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father upon the efficacy efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ, and upon an union with Him, the oath of God, the abiding of His Spirit, and the seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenant of grace, from all which arises also the certainty and infallibility thereof." So here and laying it out as we've already been through, that this is the work of God, not dependent upon my will, but dependent upon the immutability of God's decree in Romans 8, 30. If you want to turn there, Romans 8, verse 30. You'll recognize the verse when you hear it, I would imagine. And He is obviously God. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, then He also called, and whom He called, then He also justified, and whom He justified, then He also glorified. Wow, that's like, what, six times it's referred to God there. And what He's doing in predestinating, justifying, and glorifying His people, and bringing us to Himself, which is glorification, the final state of salvation, to forever be with the Lord, a glorified body. Or just turn one page to Romans chapter 9, the confession marks that verse 11, and then 16, for the children, speaking of Jacob and Esau, being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil that the purpose of God according to election might stand not of works, but of him that calleth. Amen. And then verse 16 kind of caps that section and says, so then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. God shows mercy. It's by the will of God, by the decrees of God, by His mighty power, that the people of God are kept. What a blessing that is. I remember hearing the sermon when they said, you're secure because Christ prayed for you, not because you prayed to Him. And that is an amazing truth. And we ought to bathe ourselves in it if we're really If we know Christ, we will bathe ourselves in the fact that our security is in Him. Because I don't know. I mean, with myself, you know, we come to these points where, man, how can I, how can I say certain things or do certain things or even just certain things that are driving us? Do you ever consider like what's driving you? Why are you doing what you're doing? When you really delve into that, it can get pretty scary. You can say, man, I'm so selfish. I want to glory in myself. It's just really sickening. And you start to say, man, where am I with God? And you say, boy, if it wasn't for your grace, Lord, I would absolutely be lost. There's no doubt. certainly His grace and His power to keep His people. In Romans chapter 5, in verses 9 and 10, it says, much more than being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His light. Amen. If God went through, if the Lord Jesus went through everything that He went through to save us, to save His people, then He's not gonna lose us, right? Once we're His, He's gonna keep us until the end. Praise His Holy Name. And so it is, we'll end there. We'll pick it up. We'll pick it up in the middle of the paragraph, too, next week. But praise the Lord. That is the true doctrine. It is the perseverance of the saint. Personally, I don't even mention the words eternal security too often, or I clarify it if I do, because even though the raw form of the doctrine of eternal security is true, that once you're saved, you can never be lost. But that doctrine has been so abused by many in Christianity today that we should be careful. The true doctrine is the perseverance of the faith. That if we're truly born again, you will persevere. Your testimony is your testimony, right? I could never lose that. Christ saved me. Christ showed me that my total depravity. He showed me the great wickedness of my heart and then brought me to life and gave me new life and opened my eyes. And we have seen his glory. And that can't change, even in the most difficult circumstance, right? I can think of one brother right now that's really going through something really difficult that I know. And his profession of faith has not changed in one centimeter. He said, man, that is grace. That is a sign of that's the persevering work of the Holy Spirit, right? Because these things have been revealed. And they're not just information, right? It's just learning information. But this is our living testimony. Do you have a living testimony of what Christ has done to save you? Be honest with yourself. We have a real testimony of what Christ has done, and it's all Him who's done it. And that will bring us back to this place of security over and over again. Because we're justified by Christ alone, we'll be sanctified by Christ alone, we'll be preserved by Christ alone, by Him ever proceeding for His people. For me, it's like they can be justified, yet they still lose their salvation. God declared me perfectly righteous in Christ and yet I was false to Him. I just wasn't. I couldn't be a total Christian. I wasn't God. So to make me so low view of God. you know, having the righteousness of Christ, and then all of a sudden we just lose it. It can't work that way. It's such a low view of God, as if God, we can like slip through his fingers somehow. Yeah, if you're unconverted, you can't really think of God other than like a man with superpowers, right? You can't imagine God any other way. And praise the Lord, he will keep us going. And we will persevere until the end. God is great. So, anybody have anything else before I pray? All right, let's pray. Father in heaven, gracious God, thank you for the persevering work of the Spirit in your children, Lord God. Thank you that Christ ever intercedes for his people and we can Persevere, Lord, through difficulties. And yet, I feel, Lord, here in America, we're in a precarious situation, Lord. We haven't suffered anything. We suffer so little persecution, Lord. We don't have to persevere. We can live as professing Christians, and we're never tested, Lord. No one's ever threatened us, or We've never suffered the loss of a job or even the loss of our family members wanting to disown us because of our profession. Lord, would you search our hearts, Lord God, that our testimony would be real, that Christ would be alive in us. And when we do face severe persecution or things of that nature, Lord, we have nowhere else to go but Christ because he is alive in our hearts. Lord, may these things be true. And you bless each one, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.