here tonight. I didn't know if my 68-minute sermon two weeks ago was going to keep me away, but evidently you guys love the Word. Amen. And I love the Word. You know that song. Let's give the Lord a praise for those ladies, because I know they just put that together They thought that maybe I was going to sing, or maybe my wife was going to sing. They just threw that together, and that song was so wonderful. Thank you, ladies. And that song reminded me that he carried the weight. This is not my message, but I have to share this with you. There is a word in our Bible. It's called, my wife hates it when I do this. It's the Greek word, Epiripto. And it's found two times in the Bible. It's found over in the book of Peter, where Peter said, cast all your cares upon him, for he careth for you. Epiripto, cast. Now our cares are our burdens, our problems, our issues in life that we think we can handle, but oh no, sometimes we get too big for our riches and we need to give them to Him. Well, do you know where else that word shows up in our New Testament? Palm Sunday, when the disciples was coming in Jerusalem with the Lord of glory. What are they carrying? They're carrying their coats. Their burdens. They couldn't properly praise Him and worship Him with lifting up holy hands and worshiping the Lord until they cast their burdens, their coats, upon the back of that donkey and then Jesus sat on their burdens. Amen. Now they were able to lift up holy hands and praise the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. I find that amazing. I find that amazing. Amen. We serve a wonderful, gracious, loving, and holy God. I'm going to deal with a subject tonight. This is a doctrinal subject. Very, very important. It's very important to me. I want to speak to you on this subject. And my main text, my springboard text, actually, is going to be taken from the book of Romans, chapter number 8. I'm also going to be dealing with several other passages in the Bible, but my ending text is going to be taken from John 10, the Gospel of John, chapter 10. So if you want to go ahead and open up your Bibles to, first of all, Romans 8, mark your place there. And by way of introduction, let me just go ahead and tell you the title of my message tonight, because I told the pastor this morning, I said, or this evening, I said, you preached and you focused so much on eternity. Eternity. Because we are all rushing toward eternity and time is, time waits on no man. Okay? We are all headed toward eternity. Eternity, my friend. And I think a lot of times that word is used so commonplace in Christianity, in churches, in theology, because we lose focus of what eternity is. All right. The title of my message tonight is the doctrine of eternal life. But it deals with the subject that is near and dear to my heart. called eternal security. But there's so many people out there that don't believe it. They don't believe it. Can I just share this with you? Because I pastored for seven years, and I do expository preaching, and I preach through books of the Bible. And when I took over that church in Ashland, we had 65 and 70-year-old men that would stand up and give testimony and say, I am working to make heaven my home. Within six months of biblical exposition, nobody said that anymore. They said it's finished. Praise God. The work is done. Now I love him because he first loved me. This text, that I want to share with you from Romans. I've got to build this introduction first, but every part of our Bible, I hear some people, they'll say this, you pay close attention to them red letters now. That's the Lord himself talking. Every bit of it is the Lord himself talking, amen? All scripture is given by divine inspiration of God. Every bit of it. All the ands, the buts, the bs, the vows, the wherefores, every bit of it is by divine inspiration. And who is the Word of God? In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So the Holy Spirit inspired these men to write an infallible work. There's no errors in this Bible. Amen. There's no contradictions in this Bible. If you've got a problem with the Bible, your problem is with God. Because that's the author, God, the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit uses the word eternal in the Bible as an adjective. As an adjective. It describes something. And let me just give you some examples. Romans 16, 26, the eternal God. Now how long is that? Before Abraham was, I am, all right? Matthew 18, 8, the eternal fire. How long does that last? Forever, okay? Come on now, participate tonight or I'll preach for two hours, all right? Eternal Punishment, Matthew 25, 46. Eternal Destruction, 2 Thessalonians 1, 9. Eternal Judgment, Hebrews 6, 2. The Eternal Kingdom, 2 Peter 1, 11. Eternal Inheritance, Hebrews 9, 15, and the eternal covenant. Now these are just a few. I could do this all night, okay? Because just eternal life itself shows up in your New Testament 43 times. Just eternal life. But the word eternal there is an adjective used by divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit to describe the noun God, fire, punishment, destruction, judgment, kingdom, inheritance, covenant, life. So what does eternal mean? Well, in every single one of these, it means forever. Never ending. It don't stop. Eternal judgment. You know, I hear people say that hell is the absence from God. It's not total absence from God, because let me tell you what, God's holiness, God's wrath, God's judgment, and His vindication is there. His love, His grace, His mercy is not there. But David said, if I make my bed in hell, God is there. He's everywhere, folks. Do you know why? Let me share a secret with you. He's eternal. He's eternal. That's why He's everywhere. There's no stop to eternal. And you know what else? Here's something. Let me share this with you. There's no beginning to eternal in the sense of God, in the sense of God. God has no beginning. Jesus Christ is not a created being. No, he was with the father, always been with the father. And so is the Holy Spirit. 2nd Corinthians 4.18 shows us a contrast. The Apostle Paul says, while we look not at things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, temporary. You out there, your bodies, these pews, this pulpit, this church, this planet is temporal. We can see these things, church. But we, through the eye of faith, are looking at something far greater than what we can see. Amen? It says here, but the things which are not seen, I'm not talking about through the eye of faith, I'm talking about through these physical eyes. Amen? Are eternal. Temporal, temporary. Eternal, forever. Listen to this. You all know this. 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. John 3.16. Everlasting life. But Jesus says this in John 10.27 and 28. 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, I like this, shall any man pluck them out. You know, I could go on because he goes on to say, my father who gave them to me is greater than them all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. Amen. John 3, 16, he uses everlasting life. John 10, 27, 28, he uses eternal life. He said, well, preacher, they're the same thing. No, they're not. No, they're not. There's a huge difference. How many of y'all ever had to do a resume before? I hate them. When I retired out of the Army, it was resume after resume after resume. Well, one thing they taught us in that little class that you get for about a month before Uncle Sam lets you go, they teach you how to write a resume. And in that class, they teach you how to write a resume. They say, now you need to have qualifying and quantifying statements. There's a difference. That's what this is. Everlasting life and eternal life, that's your qualifying and quantifying statements. Let me share this with you. Both are never ending. Both start at the moment of faith in Christ with the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. However, eternal life describes the quality, not the quantity. And you know what? I have eternal life right now in Christ. And I hope and pray that you do too. I hope and pray you do too. Because eternal life, oh my goodness, that puts the qualifier on everlasting. Yes, everlasting is forever and so is eternal. But eternal is so much more. And I want to share that with you tonight. And then there's people that want to believe, well, our God's eternal, it's eternal fire, it's eternal judgment, it's an eternal inheritance, it's eternal, all of these things are eternal except your security in Christ. Hull wash. Eternal salvation. Thank you, brother. And our captain, he is the captain of that salvation. Amen. And he didn't say, I'm not going to lose some. He said, I'll not lose a one. Amen. I'll not lose a one. Now, because why? Because our God is eternal. Amen. Now I want you to listen to what the master prays. just hours before his betrayal and his arrest. You say, brother Doug, you need to hurry up. You ain't even got your key text yet. Just be patient. Hold on. This will go quick. Maybe. Now, this is what Jesus spake in the Lord's prayer. You'll get that after a while. This is the high priestly prayer. These words, John 17, 1 through 3, these words speak Jesus as he lifted up his eyes to heaven. And he said, Father, the hour has come, glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And catch this right here in verse three. Oh, this is so key. If you miss this, my friend, oh, you need to drop anchor and set up a campfire, do something and study this until it hits you like a brick in the head. And this is life eternal that they might know thee. The only true God and Jesus Christ. whom thou hast sent. So what's eternal life? It is, once God initiates it, at that moment of faith, wrought by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, it is knowing God. That's what eternal life is. That's what eternal life is, and it's forever knowing God. Because who initiated it? God did. Like the pastor said this morning, no man can come unto me, except my Father, which is in heaven, draw him. Boy, I remember when I, do we have any English teachers in here? But everybody is pretty good with English, right? You need to say you're pretty good with English. It's your first language. I could remember in the second grade, I had Carlene Rice down in Louisa. I'd raise my hand and I'd ask the teacher, I'd say, teacher, can I go to the bathroom? Come on now. She said, well, yes, you can, but may you is a different story. Do you see what Jesus said there in the verse, the pastor used this, no man can, no man has the ability unless my father draws him. And when the Father begins to draw, my friend, that is when it's put in our heart by the Spirit of God to seek God. And that's when we must act on that in faith and believing in Christ. Not in ourself, not in our works, not in our righteousness, but in Him and Him alone. Because He's the only one that offers eternal life. The only one. You can't get it nowhere else. Buddha can't give it to you. The Virgin Mary can't give it to you. Mohammed can't give it to you. Jesus said, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the what? The life. Amen. And he don't halfway do anything. What did he say on the cross? John 19, 30. It is You know the Greek word there? Tetelestai. What's that mean to me? It means paid in full. The dischargement of a debt. What did I read to you two weeks ago from Colossians? Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way by nailing it to his cross. He doesn't do anything halfway, my friend. I believe Jesus's motto is go big or go home. Amen. And my wife tells me that all the time. She said, honey, go big or go home. Well, I believe my Lord's got that same policy. Amen. He finished the work. He accomplished redemption. He reconciled God unto man and man unto God. The work is done, my friend. You're going to add to that? Shame on you for even thinking that. You're trying to rob God of His glory. When you say you've got to add to the finished work of Christ, you are literally trying to rob God of His glory. Shame on you. Hey, I used to be like that. I used to be like that. I was raised a certain denomination. I'm not going to tell you what it is, Free Will Baptist, but anyway. I believe that I had to do, do, do, do, do. It wasn't until God regenerated me and I knew it was done. It was finished. And now I don't serve God out of fear. Oh, but the beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord. I still fear God. It's a holy, reverential fear for who He is. You see, God won't have to take my life. He's just got to stop giving it. Amen? But when God made me to see this beautiful plan, this beautiful work, this beautiful thing called redemption and reconciliation, oh my. I don't even know if we're going to get the outline done tonight, because the Lord's bringing something else into my mind. I told you all this two weeks ago. Redemption. That's a beautiful word, isn't it? But do we know what it means? Because there's three different words in the Greek. It's used in our New Testament for the word redemption, just like the word love. Oh, we use that word so. We just throw it out there. Love, love, love. There's phileo, there's phamilia love, there's eros love, and there's agape love. But every time in the English, it's just love. We don't know the difference in one kind of love or the other kind of love. Same thing with redemption. Let me share this with you. Boy, somebody's stoking up the fire real good. Amen. Let me share this with you. The word redemption, it's got three words in the Greek. And I'm going to give you a beautiful picture of this. Amen. The word redemption is agonizo. It means to be bought from the slave market of sin. You think of that. His work bought me. Well, there's a second phase to redemption. It's called ex-agonizo. It means to be bought and to be removed from the market. But there's another word, it's called Lutro. Martha, don't you know your brother's gonna rise? Yes, Lord, I know he's gonna rise again in the latter day in the resurrection. Martha, I am the resurrection. Where have you laid him? Lord, surely not. By now, He's four days in the tomb. Where have you laid him? They take him there. He prays, don't he? And what does he do? He thanks the father. He thanks the father for what he's about to do. And then he said, roll ye away the stone. I'm just throwing in some extra passages here for your benefit. I am the Good Shepherd. I call my own sheep by name. They know me, they hear me, and I give them to them eternal life. Lazarus, come forth. Lutro, we've been, our cadizzo, we've been bought. We've been exognito, we've been taken off of the slave market of sin, but now we've been looted. What did Jesus say next? Loose him and let him go. Loose him and let him go. The gates of hell will not prevail. against my church, Jesus said. You're thinking, loose him and let him go. No bondage to sin. No condemnation to sin. Nothing has a hold on me, my friends. Not principalities, not powers, not the world, not the flesh, and not Satan, because Jesus has loosed and let me go. In grace, I have freedom. In grace, I have liberty. In grace, I have so much more love because I know what he's done for me. He's bought me off of the slave market of sin. He's taken me off of the market, out of the marketplace, and he's loosed me and let me go. And he said, now, big boy, you're mine. You're not your own. You're bought with a price, and you're kept. of God. Boy, that's good. That's good. So, let me get back into this. This word know that they might know the an intimate relationship. You say, well, how do we know that? Cuz that's the Greek word ginosko. In your Strong's exhaustive concordance, it's the word 1097. You can look it up. You want me to give you another sample of where that word is used? Well, it's used in Luke 1, 34, in the Greek, when the angel came to Mary and said, hey, guess what, little girl? You're going to have the Messiah. And Mary, a virgin, said to the angel, how will this be, since I know not? A man. Gnosko. An intimate relationship. It's not oida. That's a general knowledge. The entire world knows God. The Bible says the evidence of creation proves that in Romans 1. Paul said the invisible things of God from creation are clearly seen, that His power might be made manifest. Therefore, they are without excuse. They're without excuse. They know of God. They oida God. They have a general knowledge of God. But Gnosko goes so much deeper. And you know what that word actually means? That word, if you look it up, that word means to know. Absolutely. To know, especially through personal experience, first-hand acquaintance, experientially know, an intimate relationship. Mary said, this is impossible. I've never known a man. And Adam knew his wife. And she conceived. Do you see the intimacy there? Do you see the intimate and not useful? You shouldn't preach about stuff like that. Oh, I've got an Italian word for that baloney. That's why we don't know the Word of God. Because preachers are afraid to preach on stuff they shouldn't be preaching on. Amen. That's what it means. That's why, listen to me, that's why adultery is such a heinous sin in the eyes of God. Number one is because you are defiling your own body. You're defiling your own body. who you're made in the image of God. Come on now. And not only that, but through the intimacy with the other person, now you have broken a relationship of intimacy that God has ordained. And that's why people that go out after every wind of false doctrine and they go off on every little phony belief and every little crazy thing out there, that's nothing more than spiritual adultery. against God who established and initiated that relationship. Well, you say, Brother Doug, now you're being awful judgmental. No, I ain't. The Word of God is what it is. Amen. God says what he means, and he means what he says. Amen. God initiates this relationship. I know I probably already wore you all out now, ain't I? Listen to me, church. This just keeps getting gooder and gooder. Pastor, I might not finish this tonight. But hey, I'm just going to... The Lord keeps giving me so many different things to throw in here. And I just want to be obedient to Him. But I want to talk about this intimacy. Let's all stand right quick from Romans 8. In reverence of the reading of God's Word, I want to read you from verse 31 down to verse number 39. Romans 8. And the word of God says, what shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Now listen to this church. Listen to verse 32. Oh my, listen to this. And hey, if this don't put you on shouting ground, then no matter what, hey, I don't know. Hey, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Yea, brethren, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who maketh intercession for us. Now listen to what Paul says here. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or pearl, or sword, as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded. Now that don't mean that he just, you know, thinking about it. That Greek word actually means assured and confident. The Apostle Paul says, I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, oh he goes on church, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature. Let me ask you something. Are you a created being? Then that means your creature, not even you, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Let's pray right quick. Lord, our good and gracious God, we ask you, Lord, to bless this reading, Lord. Lord, I ask you to anoint my lips with clay, Lord. Empty me of myself tonight, Lord, that I might, Lord, exhort the sinners to edify the church. and exalt the Savior. God, we thank you for your provision, this glorious gift of eternal salvation through the doctrine of eternal life in what your son has accomplished at Calvary. And God, to you be the glory in Jesus' name and amen. Now, there are various titles to this doctrine. Let me skip about four pages of my outline here. There's various doctrines or titles to this doctrine, but I want to share this with you. According to psychologists, it is critical for children to grow up in an environment in which they can build healthy character. Such environment includes parents who tell and show their family members that they belong. It's David E. Carlson from his counseling and self-esteem book. Theological book, by the way. That's not some secular Christian counseling book out there. You won't find any of those in my library. One of the key ways that parents build self-esteem into their children is by communicating to them that they are thankful. They are part of the family. That they're worth something. their value. My friend, if you don't know your worth tonight, then you might not know Christ. God spared not his own son. How much do you think you're worth to God? That's a whole big lot right there. That's a whole big lot. Carson writes parents who share themselves with their children, who share their ideas Their feelings, their hopes, their wishes. And our father shared it with us right here. Amen. Their successes, they communicate to their children that they are a vital part of the family. And that they're a vital part of the parents lives. Our God has given us so much church. He didn't just save us and throw us to the wolves, no. given us so much. Parents who continually to criticize and cause their children to doubt their worth and value. Who cause their children to question whether or not they even belong in the family or not or deserve to be in the family. They devastate and they ruin a child. It's very rare that child is ever able to recover. I made a comment the other day to my wife and I said you notice people that believe they have to. Are they going to be good enough? They've got that idea of theology. You know, they go to church. They do all of these things. Am I ever going to be good enough? And what if I what if I do something wrong and he turns his back on me and and and I lose my salvation? You notice when those people get old, they come very bitter. Yeah. And they become very hateful because they have no joy. They have no joy. Their whole life they've lived in fear. They have no joy at all. You know, when David did that horrific sin, adultery, murder, covered it up through lies after lies after lies, and Nathan the prophet went to him, and David was put under conviction of the Holy Spirit, and David wrote that beautiful psalm, and did he say, Lord, save me? Lord, you know, just give me my salvation. He said, Lord, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. Amen. You say, well, that's David. Well, you know what? He done the same thing for you that he done for David. Amen. It is difficulty. It is difficult that we may seem to believe that there are those in the world of theology who try to make God like this. A parent who constantly says, well, you're not in the family now. You're out because you've done this. That's our God. It's not a dysfunctional parent. Amen. Amen. We have been given, not the spirit of fear or the spirit of bondage, but we've been given the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, what? Abba, Father. Do you know what that means in Hebrew? That's the most intimate term a Hebrew child can call their father. That's like saying, Daddy, Daddy. That's what the Father's done for us, through and by the work of the Son and the work of the Holy Spirit, regenerating us, coming inside of us and living, church. Living! Paul said we are sealed until the day of redemption, which is the earnest of our intentions, until the redemption of the purchased possession, Ephesians 1.14. We're sealed! Now my grandma loved the can, both of my grandmas did. And one thing I never could do, pastor, is break that seal once grandma made it. I can't break grandma's seal. What makes you think I can break God's seal, amen? Come on now, if the phone's ringing, pick it up. Who are we to think that we are greater than the Almighty? You say, well, Brother Doug, that's just a license to sin. No, it ain't. If you believe that, you don't understand salvation. Any man being Christ, he is a new creation. All things are passed away. Behold, all things are becoming anew. And like I told you two weeks ago, that's a present perfect tense in the verb, in the Greek. That means once it starts, it don't stop. All things are becoming anew. It's no wonder those who embrace such a belief system develop paranoia. Paranoia, unstable, dysfunctional theology. Because they're constantly doubting themselves and they're constantly doubting God. Now, there are several titles given to this doctrine. Let me give you one of them here. The doctrine of eternal security. We've heard that. I'm going to skip through these right quick. Because I don't want to do you like I did you. Two weeks ago. But I do want to mind the Lord. Amen. The doctrine of eternal security. And that's the most common title recognized. Now, some in this eastern Kentucky area, they'll say, well, that's what's in grace. All is in grace, right? Amen. That's God's grace. You know, God initiated it. It's a gift. God's not an ending giver. And once he gives me something, he ain't gonna take it back. Amen. But another. You know, another common terminology for this doctrine is once saved, always saved. You all heard it. Well, I just want to give you one proof text here. All right. And then we'll move on to the next one. 2 Timothy 4, 18. You can write this down and go back and read it later. This is what the Apostle Paul wrote to young Timothy. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me to his heavenly kingdom. to whom be glory forever. Amen. Can I ask you, church, who saved you? God did. You didn't save yourself. So God saved you. Who's going to keep you? You're not going to keep yourself? Amen. We're getting there, aren't we? Oh yeah, buddy. You see the glorious work of redemption. Do you see what God has given us? Freely. Freely. You know, do y'all know the difference between grace and mercy? I got both, amen? God gave me both and his mercy endures forever upon his children. You see, God's grace is me getting what I don't deserve. And God's mercy is me not getting what I do deserve. And I've received, I've been made a partaker and a recipient of both. the doctrine of eternal security. But then there's this one. There's number two, the doctrine. This is another title given it to give the doctrine of eternal security of the believer. They want to throw that in there because they say, yeah, you're eternally secure as long as you believe. Ephesians 2, 8 through 10. And I have to read 10 because I'm going to drive this point home later on. Ephesians 2 through 10, 2, 8 through 10. For by grace, you're saved. What is grace? Unmerited favor. Us not getting. Us getting what we do not deserve. For by grace, you're saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works. Any man should boast. Now, I want you to hear this. Verse 10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. That's why He saved you. Amen. To be holy and blameless before Him in love unto good works. Are you ready for this? which God had before ordained that we should walk in them. Let me share this with you. What did Jesus tell his disciples? You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. And I have ordained you to go forth and bring forth fruit. and that your fruit should, or will, or definitely, most certainly, I am persuaded, will remain. Do you see what salvation is about now? It ain't about you, it's about the glory of God. Amen. It ain't about you getting a free pass, a free ticket out of hell, and getting to go to heaven for everlasting and eternity. No, it's about the glory of God. Because Jesus Christ can take that love gift that the Father gave Him, and when He gets up there, He can say, Father, this is what You gave me. Now by my finished work, now by the work I have accomplished, they are pure, they are holy, they are spotless, without blemish, and in a reciprocated love gift. The Son is going to give that back to the Father. Glory be to God in the highest. Amen. That's what salvation is about. The glory of God. Salvation has three tenses. We kind of talked a little bit about this Wednesday night at Bible study here. And the pastor brought out sanctification. And Brother David was talking about renewing, not to be conformed to the world, but be transformed, the renewing of our minds, which is holy and acceptable unto God. That is a reasonable service, amen. It's only logical that you do this. Justification, past tense. Can't erase the past, can you? No. Sanctification, present tense. That's God working in you right now. Amen. You see, you got to the end. There's two forms of sanctification. There's a positional sanctification seated in the heavens, and there's a practical sanctification of what you're doing right now in your life. Yes. But there's a future tense to salvation. Amen. Amen. Glorification. That's the finished product. Here you go, Father. Here you go. Holy and pure without spot. without blemish. Why? Because of what we've done? No. Because of what God the Father thought it, God the Son bought it, and God the Holy Ghost brought it. Amen. He's working in us to form a perfect bride that He may be proud to present to the Father. Not our righteousness, but Jehovah Sid Canu, Jeremiah 23, 6, the Lord Then there's this one, number three, the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. This doctrine of the perseverance of the, now these are all the same thing. These are just different titles that people in the theological camps want to get it. But I'm going to give you one tonight that's going to knock your socks off. Amen. Woo. And it's my personal favorite, but that's not here yet. The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. And it affirms that God protects and perseveres Christians, His saints, the holy ones that have been saved for all eternity. And causes their faith to persevere to the end until He calls them home. When am I gonna lose faith? In this life? Never. Do you know when I can put my faith aside? When it's me. when I see him face to face. All right? The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Good to go, Thomas. You saw me, you believed. But blessed are those who have never seen and yet still believe. When I get to glory, everything, my hope, pastor, has been fulfilled. My faith has been fulfilled. All I have left is love. It endureth, it abideth forever. Amen. Because what? God is love. The doctrine of perseverance of the saints. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3 through 5. Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time. Don't ever try to look at your watch while you're reading a passage. You saw me. Oh, I apologize for that, okay? But I'm but a man. And you may ask me, okay, kept by the power of God. Amen, brother. But what about our works? Well, don't the Bible say we're supposed to work out our own salvation? Yeah, it does. Well, don't that contradict, you know, God's doing the work. We're kept by the power of God. But yeah, we're supposed to do the work. We're supposed to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. But what about our faith? Well, James says faith without works is dead. You got to turn here. I've got to have you to see this. Go to Philippians chapter two. We're going to break this down kindergarten style. So next time. One of these people on the street says, well, what about that preacher? You're supposed to work out your own salvation. I'm about to explain it to you. This is why I wanted to read verse 10 of Ephesians. Philippians chapter 2 and verse number 12. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much the more in my absence, Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Now, they will say, now see, it's up to you. It's up to your works. You've got to work out your own salvation. And I say, yes, amen. You are to work out your own salvation. But what they fail to do is keep that verse in context with the rest of the paragraph. Look at the next verse. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do his good pleasure. What did Ephesians 2.10 say? For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in thee. Now I want to give you a Greek word picture. And there's some very good theological books out there. There's Wiest's Word Studies in the New Testament Greek. There's Robinson's Word Pictures. This is a word picture for these two verses. How many minors do we have in here? Brother Mike, were you a minor? So we've got minors in here. Let me ask you a minor something. I need some help figuring something out. All right. When you took that job and you went down in that mine, how did you get all that coal down in there? So it was already there? So what did you have to do, brother? You worked it out, didn't you? And nobody would have known you as a minor if you hadn't have brought something to the surface to show the rest of the world, right? Can you see the word picture there? Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who both willeth and worketh in you to do his good pleasure. Your good works, the fruit of the Spirit, all of your good deeds, all of those things that you do, and you want to do this right here, walking down the street and say, woohoo, look at me. God put it in there already. God put it in there. It's your responsibility to work it out. You can tell me all day long you're a Christian. But my friend proof's in the pudding. I'm from Missouri. You've got to show me. Until you bring that coal to the surface and show me a bucket load of coal, I don't even know you're a coal miner. Until you bring that work forward and show the world that God put in the mountain of your life, you've got to dig it out. You've got to work it out. You've got to bring it to the surface and show the world what he's done in you. That's the Greek word picture for those two verses right there. So that's what that means. And you know what? His grace helps me every day to work it out. Amen. To work it out. This is my favorite. Number four, the doctrine of the perseverance. of the Lord. You talk about eternal life. You talk about eternal security. This doctrine is the doctrine of the perseverance of the Lord. Or you could say, for illustration point here in one of my parables, the doctrine of the perseverance of the Good Shepherd. John 5, 24, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that hath sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." What does that mean, they're passed from death unto life? The penalty for sin is death. That's not necessarily... Yes, that's physical death. We're all going to die someday, alright? Unless the good Lord raptures us home to be with Him. But the penalty for death is the second death. So when Jesus says you've been passed from death unto life, He's talking about the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. You've been passed, brothers and sisters, from death unto life. Hell has no hold on you! Jesus says in John 6, 37-40, He says, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and he that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast him out. For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but of him that hath sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me. Now, I want you to not miss this. This is the will of the Father that hath sent me. That of all He hath given me, I should lose nothing but raise it. It. He says it. Up again at the last day. What's the it? That's your corporate security in the body of Christ. Oh, but he goes on. He gets personal. And this is the will of him that hath sent me, that of every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up again at the last day. That's your individual security. You're not only secure in Christ as an individual, but you're secure in Christ in the body of Christ. Security. I will raise it up again. What's the it? His church. Amen. Amen. The body of Christ. The perseverance of the Lord, the Good Shepherd, he will not lose one. Matthew 18. Verse 11 through 14. For the Son of Man has come to save that which is lost. How think ye if a man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray? Doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, I like what Luke says better. Dr. Luke writes in his gospel, and he searcheth until he findeth it. That's not a contradiction, no. That's them two different men's perspective, because Matthew was using shepherd language here. His gospel was to the Jews, all right? So be it, because the Jews didn't always find their lost sheep, but the Lord did, amen? And Luke said, he searcheth for it until he findeth it. And if so be he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth us more of that sheep. than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so, are you ready for this church? Even so, it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Amen. Can I give you all another word picture? They would find, they would herd all day long. Them shepherds would go from field to field over there in the Middle East. And I've been to the Middle East. You gotta walk a pretty good ways to find a patch of green grass. And I'm sure things were probably different two, three, 4,000 years ago. But they would have to get them sheep to where they could eat. And the sheep are picky, you know? They gotta have, sheep has, a particular appetite, but a goat will eat anything. You'll get that after a while. Come on now, a goat will eat anything. Ain't you glad you ain't a goat? Ain't you glad you've got an appetite for the word of God? All right, you just added another 45 minutes on the sermon. But anyway, here's a beautiful word picture for you. Listen to me. The shepherd would go out, and then late at night he would be away from where he had to be. So he would find him a rocky area. They may even make places like this with the rocks, where there's a big circle with one opening. And you know what that shepherd would do? That shepherd, at night, would herd in every single one of his sheep into that rocky area, like this. And the rocks came all the way around, Pastor, like this. It was enclosed. Them sheep wasn't getting out back there. And do you know where that shepherd would sleep at? He would lay down right in the opening. And he'd tell them sheep, you ain't getting out. And devil, you ain't getting in. This guy's going to have to be over my dead body, amen. That's the good shepherd, my friend. He said, I'm not going to lose a one. The perseverance of the good shepherd. These are verses here and more proof texts of the perseverance of our eternal life. This is eternal life right here. Is God eternal, Church? Amen. Is Jesus Christ eternal? Amen. Is Jesus Christ God? Amen. Amen. Does He pray in the will of His Father? Amen. Every time. Has to be because they're of the same essence. Amen. Will His prayers always be answered. Are you ready for this? We're bringing this to a close. John chapter 17. I'm going to start reading in verse 20. There's some things I want you to see here tonight, because up to this point, our Lord and Savior has been praying for the 11 that the Father gave him. scriptures might be fulfilled, and there they go with that. Well, you see there? Judas lost his salvation. No. Read Psalm 109. Read the 69th Psalm. Listen to what Jesus said at the Lord's Supper. It would have been better if this man had never been born. Also, read what the Lord said a little bit before that, when Jesus said he was of his father, the devil, from the No, no, let me tell you what Judas did. Judas played a game for three years and he saw that he wasn't going to come out on top and he betrayed the master. He was never saved. He was never regenerated. He never lost nothing because he never had nothing to start with. All right? Because a good shepherd ain't going to lose one. There's got to be a deeper theological explanation. Otherwise, Jesus is a loser. And he's a liar because he said he wouldn't lose one. But listen to what he prayed, church. He'd been praying for his 11. And now he's about to pray for us. Verse 20. Neither pray I for these alone. but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. That they all may be one as thou father art in me and I in thee and that they also may be one in us. That the world may believe that thou hast sent me and the glory which thou gavest me I have given them. Hold on a second, church, I've lost my place. That they may be one, even as we are one, in them and thou in me, that they may be perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me. That's pretty deep right there, isn't it? We're going to go somewhere with this. Father, I will. that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me. For thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. The perseverance of the Lord, the doctrine of eternal life. Jesus said in verse 20, neither I pray for these alone, but for all those which shall believe. That is everyone that believes the gospel message of Jesus Christ and places their faith and trust in Him. You know this tonight, church. If you believe that He is the Son of God, that He was born of a virgin, that He lived the sinless, perfect life, and that He died on the cross, and He was buried, and three days later He arose victorious with the keys to death, hell, and the grave. and after 40 days he ascended to the right hand of majesty and he is now making intercession for us and one day he will come back to redeem his church. My friend, if you believe that, you know you're a sinner, you know that. He prayed for me. Well, glory. I wasn't even born yet and Jesus was praying for me. The perseverance of the Lord. For thou hast loved me, Jesus said, before the foundation of the world. And now in verse 24 C, he says thou hast loved them even as thou hast loved me. The great love that he has for his son, he is now bestowed upon the believers in Christ. For all those who shall believe. Oh, what a great love. How many of you here has a son? How many people in here has a son? Could you love anybody more than your own son? I'm glad that I have not been made a joint heir with Christ. I've not been made a joint heir in Christ, but I've been made a joint heir of Christ. You say, what's the difference, preacher? If he's everything he's got, I've got. Amen. You know what our biggest surprise is when I think we get to heaven? Well, I think our first biggest one is going to be who's there and who ain't. It's going to shock some of us. But I think our next biggest surprise when we get to heaven is all the things that we could have had if we'd have just asked for them. Now, I'm not one of these name it, claim it. Word of faith, preachers, no sirree bop. It's got to be in God's will. Amen. And I'm glad there's times I don't even know how to pray. But the Holy Spirit that lives inside of me maketh intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered, because he knows the heart and the mind of God, and he always prays for me in the will of God. So when I get down in the dumps sometimes and I don't even feel like reading my Bible, I don't even feel like praying, I feel like old King David did at times when I just feel so low. And I say, Lord, it feels like you're a million miles away. There's a spiritual worship service going on in me because God, the Holy Spirit, lives inside of me. And he's making intercessions with groanings that cannot be uttered to the Most High God. He's praying on my behalf. The perseverance of the Lord. Do you believe that everything accomplished. I do. Verse 24, the perseverance of our Lord. Father, I will. Now who's the I? The Father is, of course, God the Father. I is God the Son. That they, now who is the they there? In the context, the they are all of those which shall believe on my name. That's who the they are or the they is, whichever way you like it better. All right. That's who they are. So he's praying for all of those who shall believe on his name. And he's not just praying for now. He's declaring what his will is. And what did he say in John 6 over there in verse 37, 38? I come not to do my will, but I come to do the will of who? The Father. So if Jesus is declaring this as His will, it is also who else's will? The Father's will. I will that they also whom thou has given me be with me where I am that they may behold my You can't get no more secure than that, folks. Amen. Not when the man put off everything and came, found fashion as a man, as a servant, humble and obedient, even unto death, the death of the cross, but for the joy that was set before him, he endured the sufferings of the cross. Father, I will it, how this is my will, that they be with me where I am, so that they may behold my glory. Isn't that good, church? Are you secure in that? Not in ourselves, right? Not in our works, not in our righteousness, not in our good deeds, not in nothing we've done, but we're secure in Christ. I am persuaded, amen? I am persuaded. And I'm going to skip my last point. And I want to read you this doxology from Jude. Now, unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless, but for the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. And to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. That, my friend, is the doctrine of eternal life. It is to know God, and it's forever, and God initiates it. God turns it on, and He's the only one that can turn it off. And I like what he said in Malachi 3, 6. He said, For I am the Lord thy God, and I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Now, you say, well, Brother Doug, he's talking to Israel. He's talking to Jacob there, the offspring of the seed of Abraham. Jacob and the twelve tribes, they're not consumed. Hey, bless God. By the Spirit of adoption, I'm a seed of Abraham. Amen. I've been brought into the same covenant that God gave Abraham. Amen. I've been brought in by the spirit of adoption whereby I cry, I'm a father. He said, I am the Lord thy God and I change not. Amen. Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed. What does Hebrews say? He said he's the same today, yesterday and forevermore. Let me tell you what, God ain't going to get mad at you and cast you aside. You cost too much to him. He loves you too much. You're too precious. Now, if that don't motivate you to serve him, then you need to drop to your knees and be like old Peter. Lord, save me. God, have mercy on me. God, renew in my heart a clean spirit that I might serve you right and I might be found worthy. Friend, it cost way too much for God to turn his back It costs the precious jewel of heaven, the crown jewel of heaven. He took that crown off and put a crown of thorns on for you. Think of that. And he said, if any man would follow me, let him deny himself. Let him deny himself. I like what Brother David said Wednesday night. A lot of times we have to, got two thrones and two crowns. Brother David said a lot of times we have to take ourselves off the throne and put him on it. He is worthy, church. Our God has secured us for a reason. He has saved us for a reason. He's going to preserve us for a reason. He's going to bring us home to glory for a reason. Now let us give him all the glory for that, because there's no good in me. rags in the eyes of God and if you did a Hebrew word study on that you'd be like oh that's gross that's just pitiful that's how God sees your righteousness is filthy rags God we thank you for the gift of eternal life we thank you for your son and anything. We deserve to be on that cross. We deserve to have your wrath poured out upon us. But God, you made a way. Lord, you offered this glorious provision of eternal salvation through and by your son's finished work, the perfect lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice, the only one qualified father to accomplish redemption. and reconciliation, to be the expiation and the propitiation for our sins, Lord God. God, work in us for your good pleasure. Help us, Lord, to be obedient to your word. Renew in us, Lord, a clean heart and a clean spirit, Lord, so that we may fall in love all over again with your son, that we may fall in love all over again, Lord, with your word. And Lord, you would impress it upon our hearts to be in it daily, not to just read it, Lord, but to study it and to learn more and more and more about you. God, we ask you, Lord, to bless this church and bless these good people here, Lord. Lord, I know that they they love you and Lord, they have a passion and desire for your word. And Lord, there is sound doctrine here. And God, we praise you for that because not every church has what these good people have. Lord, help them appreciate that and love that and thank you for that, Lord. But Lord, help them also, God, to appreciate what you have done and help us to serve you better, Lord, that we may know that eternal life is eternal. It never ceases, it never ends. And this is just the dressing room, oh God, for heaven. And then one day when we see you, Lord, we'll be perfect, sinless perfection, Lord. We could put off this old flesh and a glorified body. And Lord, we won't have doubts, we won't have fears. There'll be no jealousy, there'll be no pain, there'll be no suffering, there'll be no sin, oh God, because you have wiped it away. All night.