All right, good morning, everyone. I hope and pray you guys have had a blessed week and looking forward to another good lesson today online. And so this is our online series again, our Foundation Series. And as mentioned last week, guys, we are going to get into the eternal security today, or the security of the believer. We spoke about salvation last week, and I realize that we've gone over other biblical principles and biblical truths, the fundamentals of our faith, and now we took a step back and we're looking at salvation, understanding that all of those biblical truths, the Bible, the soul authority, the two ordinances, the autonomy of the church, individual soul liberty, all of the things that we've discussed thus far, they only apply to the saved individual. So last week we took a step back, And we covered salvation, the simplicity of salvation and how it is involved in our life today and what makes it so simple and really and truly who's making it complex and so who's confusing it. We understand that Satan is always at the root of anything that is confusing, amen? And so nonetheless, today I want to get into the security of the believer. And again, as always, your PDF outline to follow along, fill in the blank, and so on, and take notes is included on our Church One app there on sermonaudio.com. So we're going to look at 1 John 5, 1 John 5, verses 11 through 13. And so I ask you to get your Bibles out, if you will. If you're listening to this on the road, obviously you cannot. But at a later date, you can look over those notes. and answer them accordingly. 1 John chapter 5. So again, we're looking at someone who is saved, born again of the blood of Christ. They've made their decision clear. They know that they're on their way to heaven. What a tremendous blessing. They put their faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As we read in Romans chapter 10, verse 9, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. So after that point, here's the question arise. Okay, so you've made that decision. The Holy Spirit of God has sealed you into the day of redemption. Can you ever lose that salvation? Can you ever lose that salvation? Well, the answer is no, but you got to know where we get the answer no from. Everything should be the answer according to the Word of God. Again, I don't subscribe to creeds. I don't subscribe to councils and meetings and all this and that. If it's not in the scripture here, I'm not going to believe it nor apply it as a doctrinal truth. So 1 John 5, verse 11. Guys, that makes things simple. You understand? That is the simplicity of salvation and really the simplicity of my life. I understand my life. We are seven days a week. We are running to it. I mean, we are busy as all get out. I get that. But one of the reasons that drives me to be so busy and work so hard is this, is the truth of this Word of God. Understanding biblical principles, you apply the biblical principles into business principles, into family principles, into parental principles, into just ethical principles. All of those things go together from this book right here. And you can be successful in all of those things today if you will apply these principles. As I understand, you know, You're going to raise your children the way you know best. You can use this as a guidebook, and when they get out and they become adults, it's up to them to take it forward from there. Some will, some won't, but you do your dead level best to raise them according to the Word of God. 1 John 5, verses 11 through 13, the Bible says, and this is the record that God has 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." That's a very simple statement right there. You either have the Lord Jesus Christ or you don't. If you have Him, you have life. If you do not, you do not have life. These things, what things is John referring to? The things of eternal life, the record of Jesus Christ giving us eternal life, he that believed on the Son of God. These things have I written unto you, okay, that believe, there's the conditional clause, I'm writing unto you who believe, okay, that believe on the name of the Son of God. that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God." Okay? That's a clear statement. Beloved, salvation, as we've heard, and throughout, as we heard last week, is very simple. Very, very simple. Eternal salvation, eternal security, is just as simple. In all fairness, guys, we could have summed this up right there. This could have been a five-minute lesson, me chatting a little bit, review from last week, hit those verses, done and dusted. Hands down, I do believe that we should let the scripture answer the scripture. There's 65,000, we understand, cross-references in the Word of God. But it's very important to understand this right here, that if you have believed on the name of the Son of God, you have eternal life, and you are sealed. You know that you have eternal life. You can't lose that, okay? You can't lose that. So some speak of security as connected to our experience, They felt something. Others will speak of security of the believer or eternal security as evidence, meaning that it's proof positive. Some will say that it's due to events, meaning works. And there's some that believe that their security is tied to ecumenicalism, but even the Vatican, matter of fact, the Vatican has declared as of late that Muslims are saved because they worship one God. But James tells us this, thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well, the devils also believe and tremble, all right? So here we see someone running away from the truth of the word of God to try to appease another group of people. I'm not interested in offending people. I'm not interested in offending anyone at all. My goal never is to offend someone. But if I take a biblical truth and it upsets you and offends you, it's not me doing it. It's the Bible doing it, yeah, but all you've got to do is correct your ways according to the Word of God. the offense will be gone. Not the offense of the cross, but the offense. So how can we know we have eternal life, guys? How can we know that? First John 5.1, you must, okay, look at verse, First John 5.1, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And everyone that loveth him, that begotten loveth him also, that is begotten of him. So everyone that he has produced, okay, that he has saved and are born again, They love him and they love others, okay? It's very, very simple, okay? So you must, there must be a who, whosoever, believe that Jesus Christ, Jehovah saves, is the Messiah and born of God. You must believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and he's born of God. To believe means to trust, depend, or to have commitment. That is a belief fully, fully trusted. I remember a story being told one time of an individual who used to walk across a tightrope across Niagara Falls on a tightrope and he'd go back and forth and back and forth and the crowds would grow and and To people's dismay. They're like wow. He look look how great he's doing this. This is just tremendous This is wonderful and then he would get a bicycle and he'd ride back forth then he'd get a wheelbarrow and he'd push the wheelbarrow showing that he could continue going across this Niagara Falls, okay, and And so he came back across one time and he asked the man, he says, do you believe I can go back across the tightrope here, across the falls? And the guy said, well, sure, I just saw you do it. He goes, do you really believe that I can do it again? And the guy said, yeah, I've just seen you do it several times. He goes, do you truly, truly, truly believe that I can walk across the falls on this tightrope? He goes, certainly, man, I believe that you can do it. He goes, okay, well, get in the wheelbarrow. You see, that's what believing on something means, when you've placed your full trust in Jesus Christ. That's how we get that salvation in 1 John 5, verse 1. So here's the key, as John said, to know that you have eternal life. This is where eternal security comes in. We know, number one, that our salvation is not of works. Ephesians 2a says, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. If there is nothing we can do to earn salvation, there is nothing we can do to lose salvation. That is a simple equation. That's a very, very simple equation. See, when two teams walk on a field, guys, on a pitch, and they're ready to play, they both enter as winners, guys. Despite their record, despite the statistics, despite the players, they all have practiced, they've all prepared, they've all had planned, yet only one will walk off that field a loser. I think it was Vince Lombardi who said, we will accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible. Bear Bryant said that a tie was like kissing your sister. It should not happen. What does that mean? The game, guys, is each team to lose, not to win. They're already out there as winners. You understand that? So all they have to do, listen carefully, is earn the win, you see. or get the loss. If they do not earn it, they do not win it. It's simple as that. So, it's their game to lose, not to win. Salvation's different. Salvation, you cannot earn it. And if you cannot earn it, you cannot lose it. It is that simple today. John said that you may know. Now do I know for an absolute positive fact that I'm standing here today and I know what I'm wearing, I know where I am, I know what I'm doing? Absolutely I do. I know that I'm standing right here before you. I know that someone is watching this, you're watching this. I know that, okay? None of which is a figment of my imagination. I can see this, I can pinch myself, ow. Everything is real, it's a reality. Salvation falls under the same pretense. You can know it, and therefore you keep it. There are people today who apparently are saved, they call themselves Christians, yet they have no desire for spiritual things. Maybe they used to go to church, maybe they were even baptized, and maybe there were many things they used to do inside the church, and they're simply not present in our life today. Jesus Christ refers to them in Matthew 7, verse 22, saying, Have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then while I professed unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me ye that work iniquity. Jesus didn't say hey, I used to know who you were But now I don't know you says I never knew you they were never a child of God. They were never born again They were never saved even though they've done these works and they were their list is what we call a used to I used to do this used to do that and now they do nothing. Well, the Lord says hey, I Look, I never knew you. You're not you didn't gain salvation and lose it. I never knew you at all. I So we have all seen people come into church and make profession, hoping Christ to be some type of cure-all for their problems. They get baptized, they join the church, and they attend for a while, then they disappear. We've seen those. I've seen those more often than I have not seen them in my ministerial life. I'm 51 years, almost 51. I'll be 51 next week. actually by the time you're watching this I'm already 51 you know I was saved at 19 and I got into the ministry I was called to preach at 25 years old guys and so the Lord has been very good to me I'll tell you that much but I have seen some people come through the church in my life did they fall from grace did they lose their salvation no More likely, they probably never had. They probably never had. 1 John 2.9 tells us, He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. Guys, you can't say one thing and do another. Christianity is not like that. Salvation, let me say this, security believers are not like that. And so it's a fair judgment that if someone is saved, they will remain faithful to the Lord. Yes, people backslide. Yes, people go off into the world. Some, very few, are able to make it back. None make it back unscathed or unscarred. They will at least have a desire to draw close to Him. So how can we know that we have eternal security? How do we know that? Number one, because of Christ's covenant, Christ's covenant. Turn over to Romans chapter eight, if you have your Bibles with you today, Romans chapter eight. We're looking at verses 38 and 39, tremendous, love these verses, Romans chapter eight, verse 38 and 39. The Bible says, verse 38, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angel, nor principality, nor powers, nor things present, or things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Beloved, Paul makes it abundantly clear there is nothing upon nothing upon nothing upon nothing that can separate us from the love of God. Nothing, not even death can separate us. Why? Well, there's the covenant and the covenant is based upon the confidence, the confidence. We'll look in Philippians chapter one, Philippians chapter one real quick. Philippians in chapter one. Get over there. Philippians chapter 1 verse 6 says, being confident in this very thing, he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. So it's not my job to keep my salvation. I am confident today that Jesus has began a work in me. He saved my soul and he is going to complete that work throughout my entire life on this earth. He's going to save it. Guys, he will not only perform it, but he, I mean he will not perform it, but He will finish it. He will complete it. Thirdly, we find, we're going back to Romans 8, we see the covenant as we read in Romans chapter 8 just a moment ago. We see the confidence in Philippians 1, 6. But now back in Romans chapter 8, we're going to see the conformity. the conformity. Look at Romans 8, verses 28-30. The Bible says, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called, He also justified. And whom He justified, them He also glorified." God's foreknowledge is the catalyst behind the predestination of the, listen to this next word, the believer being conformed to the image of his son, okay? Not the lost person. Yes, because of the foreknowledge, because Jesus Christ knows everything that there is, He knows who's going to be saved, absolutely. But you're not being conformed or predestinated to be conformed to the image of God's Son prior to salvation. That salvation is a choice that you make by way of the conviction, the conviction of the Holy Spirit of God, which comes through the Word of God. Romans 10, verse 17, we read last week, for faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, okay? So the word of God comes into your life, the conviction of the Holy Spirit of God sets your soul on fire, convicts you of the necessity and your need of salvation, and therefore you make your confession sure, okay? You are sealed in that covenant. We read Romans 8, verse 38, 39, we know the confidence, Philippians chapter one, that he that began a good work shall complete that into the day of the Lord, and then there's a conformity, okay, conformity to his son. It comes after that. We are predestined after we make the decision for salvation. So once that conformity begins, now what does it entail? Well, it entails consecration. The word consecration means to be set apart, sanctified, if you will. It doesn't make you holy. It just means you're set apart for a particular purpose. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 14 tells us, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Okay? This is the beauty of the scriptures today. Am I still corruptible in the flesh? Yes, this is corruptible. Although God, who dwells in the realm outside of space and time, in mass, he sees me in eternity, meaning God is looking at me today in my glorified state, my consecrated state. conformed under the image of his son, amen and amen. So here's what does not happen. He does not see me in my conformed state and then all of a sudden I mess up and then he doesn't see me anymore. Okay, remember that the security of the believer, the Lord looks at me now as I am in my consecrated glorified state that I will be in eternity. Because he dwells outside of mass and time and space and all this, he sees me in eternity. So there's the consecration. Next, we have eternal security because we have a new creature. We read this verse last week, 2 Corinthians 5.17, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. There's a new creature. But the security of the believer, guys, the security believer, we must understand today, and this is point number six, is kept. It's kept. I know it's not a C, but it still has the sound of it. 1 Peter 1. Stay with me on this. Stay with me. Follow along in your outline. Print these off, guys. Specialties on eternal security and salvation. But the security of the believer is kept. 1 Peter 1. Verses 3-5, it says, "...Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to the inheritance of incorruptible and undefiled, and 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 in the last time." Beloved, now tell me one thing in creation that is more powerful than God. Nothing. Nothing. Because of that, we have eternal security. We have eternal life. Our mind, our body, our actions are not powerful enough to lose salvation, to remove it. Lastly, and most importantly, we need to understand Our eternity, our eternal security, the security of the believer. Yes, it's kept by God, the power of God. We are a new creature. We are consecrated. We understand all those things. But beloved, it makes it all true today. Point number seven, because of Christ. It all comes back to Christ. It all comes back to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. John chapter 5 and 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. Shall not. It's that simple. You hear the word of God, you believe on God, there you go. You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, what Christ has given us in eternal life, he will not take away in the temporal. That is very clear and evident in the Holy Scriptures. It's truly the ultimate gift. For the good shepherd we understand in John 10, 27 through 29 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 me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. Verse 30 says, I and my Father are one. So my friend, I'm here to tell you, there is not a man on this planet, a woman, a child, an experience, an event, an action that can remove you. from the saving, the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are those that are trying to impede you of the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ on a very daily basis. We saw that just like in Acts 13 with Bargesus and Pavus who tried to hinder Sir Gaius Paulus, the deputy of the country, from being saved. We saw it happen to him. Paul cast blindness on him. He wasn't around for a season. Being blind had to be led by another. So I'm saying all that to make this point, guys. Once you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and I beg that you have already done so, and if not, do so right here, right now. But once you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are sealed into the day of redemption. You are just as saved as if you were in heaven right here, right now. And you cannot lose it. That does not give us a license to sin. Because remember, if you're saved and born again, you've got a new man inside of you. You've got that new creature inside of you who, yeah, and you're gonna fight with the flesh. And the flesh is gonna win sometimes. Make no mistake, the flesh is gonna win sometimes. But, let me encourage you with this thought right here, right now. When you put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, Even though you slip up, you mess up, or whatever may happen, you cannot lose your salvation because you could not earn it. It's a gift. So, beloved, I hope this has been a blessing to you today. I hope it's helped. It's a biblical truth. Make no mistake by that. Again, everything that we teach, the biblical truth, not misinterpreted, not left up for private interpretation. And I'm looking forward to getting to our next lesson next week. Guys, we've seen the past two weeks, salvation, and now we've seen the security of the believer, the eternal security. And so next week, we'll probably get into the two offices, the two offices, okay? Have yourself a wonderful and rested, blessed day, and we'll see you soon. God bless.