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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/peter-simms/the-gospel-eternal-security/
Tonight we're going to talk about eternal security. If ever there was a truth to encourage the Lord's people, a Christian, is the fact that what God did for us is final and eternal. Can't lose it. I tell you, what else have you got you can't lose?
You can lose your house, you can lose your wealth, you can lose your health, you can lose your child, you can lose your wife, you can lose practically everything. Nothing in this world is really secure.
But we got a salvation that nothing can take from us. Death itself can't rob us of it. It's an eternal thing that God has worked out for us. Apart from us even asking Him to do it. You didn't have to come and ask God for eternal life and these sort of things.
No, He worked that all out beforehand and offers it to men as a free gift. That's where our verse starts. Romans chapter 6 and verse 23. Romans 6 and verse 23. And it reads, "...for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.".
So we'll read our verses first. Hebrews chapter 5. Hebrews chapter 5. Now this is concerning the Lord Jesus, these words. "...and being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him.".
"...and being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him.". First John chapter 5. First John chapter 5. And we'll read verse 11. "...and this is the record that God hath given to us, eternal life.".
"...and this life is in His Son.". "...and this is the record that God hath given to us, eternal life.". "...and this life, this eternal life, is in His Son.". Verse 13. "...these things have I written unto you, that believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that you have eternal life, and that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that you have eternal life.".
Verse 18. "...we know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not, but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one touches him not.". Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3. And we'll read from verse 1.
"...if ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth.". Now listen. "...for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye appear also with Him in glory.". And let's read Romans chapter 8. Verse 1. "...there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.".
There's no condemnation, no judgment to them which are in Christ Jesus. Let's go down to chapter 2, verse 31. "...what shall we say then to these things? If God before us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also utterly 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, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God.
Who also maketh intercession for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, 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 things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor 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.
Now the Lord will bless the reading of His Word. Eternal security is something that many of God's children do not appreciate. Not because they wouldn't like to, but because they were never taught it. They were taught that they're saved, yes, but now you have to work to keep saved.
And many major religions in our world, though they preach the gospel, they only preach it half. They do not bring their hearers to the place of freedom because they're left thinking they were saved by grace, but now they must finish the course by works.
And that's a miserable way to live. If you're never sure you're saved, if you're never sure that when the whole thing is over, you're going to be in heaven, because we all fail. And what certain religions do, I don't know why they do it, but I suppose that this is a means whereby they keep their subjects and their members in tune, or in line.
They scare them. You misbehave, you lose your salvation. He that endureth unto the end shall be saved. And the great apostle Paul said that if he got out of the way and began to do things that were wrong, and then he said, lest I myself also shall become a castaway.
Now these are terms that religious leaders use to keep their members in a place of, I call, fear. They tore the line, or they lose everything. They had my wife there, before she was my wife, years ago.
And when I met her, she was real religious. And I was a bad guy, but I was saved. Not living like a Christian. And she always told me that I'm a far better Christian than you are. And you're telling me you're going to heaven, and I'm not.
I'm going to heaven just as much as you, or maybe more than you. So I'd tell her, are you sure you're saved? And she'd say, nobody can be sure they're saved. So she went to the pastor and asked the pastor.
The pastor said, no, nobody can be sure they're saved. Even the apostle didn't know for sure he was saved. Then he quoted her that passage, lest I myself also should become a castaway. See, the apostle didn't believe it.
Good works does not have anything to do with getting saved. But it has everything to do with after you're saved. Paul told the Ephesian Christians, he said, you were saved onto good works. That's why God called you.
That you change your life, and start living a life worthy of your calling. But your good works won't save you. Every good work, every effort a person puts into trying to find favor with God, God calls it, filthy rags.
Because His Son's death upon the cross satisfied that matter before God. And God offers mankind an eternal salvation as a gift. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. You contribute anything to that, and you spoil it.
Therefore, have in your mind tonight, that your good works cannot contribute to your being saved and going to heaven. Just cannot have any part to do with it. And any effort you make, God says, filthy rags, worthless.
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. By grace are you saved through faith, and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. So if you're saved tonight, it's because God gave you a gift.
That was eternal life, and you took it. If you're not saved tonight, the gift is there for you. Remember, it comes in the capacity of a gift. Don't attempt to work for it. Don't try praying for it. Don't try buying it with money.
Don't try getting it with working. Do not do anything like that. It's a gift. Take it. God says, My Son died upon the cross for sins. And if you have sins, just take God's Word. Then if God's Son died for sins, then He died for my sins.
And agree with God. He died for my sins. You don't have to have anything more. Christ died for our sins. According to the Scriptures. Now whether you believe that or you don't believe it, that doesn't change it.
That's an historical fact. Over 2 ,000 years ago, Jesus Christ died for our sins. A person said, I don't believe it. Well, so what? You don't believe it. That won't change it. But God blessed the man who believes it, because he gets the gift of eternal life.
So, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now this eternal life, people want to say, you know, you can lose it. One fellow told me, I quoted him that verse in John's Gospel, chapter 10, is it?
The Lord Jesus said, I give unto My sheep eternal life and they shall never perish. No man can pluck them out of My Father's hand. Me and My Father are one. You know what the guy told me? A religious guy.
He said, that's right. No man can pluck them out of God's hand, but you can jump out yourself. See, they'll do anything to try and rob the value of that wonderful statement. That you can't lose what God gave you.
God gave it to you as a gift, and God's responsible to see to it now that you get to heaven. I'm going to prove that now. Hebrews 5 and verse 9. Now, we're going to change a couple of the words in this verse.
Now, I'm not altering the Bible. This is other ways to translate it. And if you're a younger believer, well, you have to take my word. And if you don't want that, well, we can talk about it or you can go to Brother Brulee and Paul and them men and they will help you to understand it.
But we don't have time to go into all the technical parts here. But being... Verse 9 of chapter 5. And being made perfect. Now, that word perfect also can be translated qualified. So, the Lord Jesus is qualified.
And He became the author. Now, the word author, you know, the author of the book. Who's the author of the book? Well, okay. But you can also say, Who's responsible for that article? And to my mind, it makes it better.
Clear. Comes across clear. To say it this way. The Lord Jesus is fully qualified to be responsible for my eternal salvation. Now, this here destroys the concept of people who say, You're saved. Now, keep yourself saved by what you do.
And if you miss out in your behavior, you'll lose it. Yeah, but look. Who's responsible for me getting to heaven? Now that I'm a Christian. Who's responsible to keep me saved? So, I can't lose it. Who's responsible?
Was I responsible for my salvation? No, it's a gift. So, I'm not responsible for it. That was given to me by somebody else. So, God gave me eternal life as a gift. Now, that eternal life He gave me, and I have now as my possession, the Lord Jesus is the one that's going to make it an eternal salvation.
Now, the word there, eternal, is an adjective. It's describing the salvation. And it's an eternal salvation. That's the kind of salvation it is. And who's responsible to make sure that my eternal life is an eternal salvation?
Me? Now, read the verse now as I have it, and you think about these things. And being qualified, He became responsible for my, or everybody's, eternal salvation. He's responsible. So, the minute you accepted the gift of eternal life, you got eternal life.
And the Lord Jesus says, now listen, I'm responsible to see to it that what you got is eternal. Not you. It's not up to you to make your eternal salvation eternal. That's the Lord Jesus' responsibility.
And He's qualified to do it because of what He did for us at the cross and by what He is for us now in the presence of God. Now, it's unto all of them, it says. Now, here's where it gets a little sticky for some.
Unto all them that obey Him. So, let's say, see, there you are. It falls back to obedience. I knew it was too good to say it's eternal salvation you get freely. And Jesus Christ is going to look after you and make sure you get to heaven.
See, it says there, unto all them that obey Him. Now, what does that mean? Well, that simply means that when you got saved, if you go to II Thessalonians 2, I forget what verse. The Lord Jesus is coming in flaming fire taking vengeance on all them that obey not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And if you are saved, it's because you obeyed the Gospel. And that's what He's talking about here. Unto all them that obeyed Him. When God said repent. Repentance towards God and faith in Jesus Christ.
You'll find that word in John 3 and 36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. That word believeth really means obeys. He that obeys. Obeys what? Well, does what the Lord Jesus said. What is the first thing?
He that believeth on the Son has everlasting life. So, to believe is an act of obedience. And when you got saved, you obeyed the Gospel. You obeyed God and you got saved. So, this isn't a type of work that once you're saved, now you got to start working and the Lord Jesus is qualified to be responsible for your eternal salvation as long as you obey.
That's not the idea. That's what these guys put into it. But they're confusing the issue. That's not what it means. The wonderful thing is that God has given to you an eternal salvation. That's the kind of salvation it is.
You were once an Adam and in Adam you were doomed. There was no hope for anybody in Adam. As long as a man stays an Adam, he'll die and go to hell. But if he will respond to what the Lord Jesus did at the cross when God sent His Son into this world, He sent Him not to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
And so, God punished His Son, the Lord Jesus. He punished Him on this cross. And He died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried. And on the third day He arose again according to the Scriptures.
And the Lord Jesus is alive. He arose from the dead. And God associated us with His death. We died with Christ. So our link with Adam is broke. We were buried with Christ. Put out of God's sight. And when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, God quickens us together with Christ.
We're now in Christ. There's your safety. There's your security. We talked about sanctification the other night. And, well, we better not go down that road now again. But your safety is because you're in Christ.
If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away and everything becomes new. And in Romans 8 -1, there is therefore now no judgment to them that are in Christ Jesus. So once you're in Christ and you understand how you got out of Adam and how you got into Christ by dying with Christ, buried with Christ, risen with Christ, you'll see where you are.
You're in Christ. Now can anybody take you out of Christ? Who's big enough to take you out of Christ? Who put you in Christ? God did. Upon your obeying the Gospel. You believe the Lord Jesus died for you on the cross.
And God said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. You believe, you're saved. Okay. And in that simple act of faith, you died with Christ here on this cross. That broke your link with Adam.
You were buried and you were quickened together with Christ. So now you're in Christ. No longer in Adam. Now in Christ. Who can take you out of Christ and reverse the whole process of redemption? Is that possible?
Even that little fellow there shook his head no. He's right. You're right, son. It's not possible. Nobody, nobody can take you out of Christ and put Christ back in the grave and you with Him and put Christ back on the cross and you with Him and undo the work of the cross and undo your work of salvation and then put you back in Adam.
You see, that's ridiculous. So if anybody tells you your salvation can be lost, understand, it's totally ludicrous. It just cannot ever happen. Colossians 3 read in verse 3, For your life is hid with Christ in God.
Isn't that wonderful? I wonder what that means. Your life is hid with Christ in God. So if we want to analyze or talk about this man for a little bit, who really is he? Is he just Jesus? No, he's not just Jesus.
He's God's Son. He's the Son of God or God the Son. He's a member of the Godhead. There's God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. And God the Son came into our world to become a man. But He never stopped being God.
That's what incarnation is. A person with two distinct natures. One personality but two distinct natures. He's equally God and He's equally man combined in one person. Now, if you are in Him and sharing His life, where does that put you?
I mean, the thing is so awesome, it just blows your brain. Sometimes you think it's too good. It just can't mean what it's saying. But it's meaning what it's saying. God cannot lie. And He says, Your life is hid with Christ in where?
In God. In what sense? And what's one of these doctrines would tell us about our closeness to God? Intimately. Reconciliation, you know, we were brought close. Sanctification, we're set apart. Redemption, we're bought.
But what one tells us how close we are to God? Regeneration. We've been born again. Born again. We are the sons of God. Now, that's so easy to say, you know. Just to say, I'm the son of God. There's that verse in John's Gospel, chapter 1 and verse 12.
But as many as received Him, to them gave He the right to become the children of God. John one day in 1 John 3, I think it is, he says, Behold, what kind of love is this? That I should be called a son of God.
And John's overwhelmed with the fact. Are you? Am I? You see, if you go outside of faith and then you start to rationalize this thing, then you begin to lose. Because you begin to say, well, if I was really a son of God, I'd feel it.
I'd feel, man, I'd be walking on cloud 9 and cloud 10 all the time. No, you don't feel it. Can God really be my Father? And will He treat me as a son? And can I depend on Him as a Father? Is that a real relationship?
You see, unless we embrace it by faith, it's not likely we're going to walk or act and live on the good of it. We have to understand that it's a true fact. I am a child of God. God. And God is my Father.
So if God's your Father, how should you behave? I mean, if God has done all this for us, reconciled me, redeemed me, made me one of His sons, justified me, sanctified me, gave His Son to be a substitute upon the cross for me, imputed to me righteousness, forgave me of all my sins, wrote up a new covenant for me.
I mean, He's done all that for me. Freely. I didn't ask for it. He did all that for me freely. And I get the benefit of it all by simply believing. Do I not owe Him something? Should there not be a response from inside me that I should want to walk worthy now of what He's called me to?
The problem always exists, though. We're failures. 1 John chapter 5. It'll always be true. There'll never come a time in this world when you won't sin no more. Read 1 John chapter 1. John said, if a person says he has no sin, he's lying.
The truth is not in. Every Christian will sin. And God knew it beforehand, and that's why He made His Son to be a propitiation. And on the grounds of that, be an advocate for His children. If any man sin, we have an advocate with a Father.
Remember, in Adam, God is your judge. That's a terrible place to be. There He's your judge. But if you're in Christ tonight, God is your Father. Remember, in Christ, God is my Father. Therefore, as my Father, He does not judge me.
He won't judge you. If you live in sin, as I did for a number of years, God never becomes one of His children's judge. All His judgment took place on the cross. There God judged my sins in His Son upon that cross.
And God is no longer my judge because I'm not in Adam. I'm in Christ. And because I'm in Christ's regeneration, I'm one of God's sons. And now God will deal with me as a child of His. It's a paternal relationship now.
A father will deal with his son. And let me tell you, he knows how to do it. He knows how to do it. A rebellious son in the family of God will know what it's like to have the hand of God touch him. Not in judgment, but touch him and let him know the way of the transgressor is bitter and hard.
And he'll just let you go. He'll let you taste it. And the reason he lets you taste it is to teach you. Is this what you want? Is this really what you want? Cal was talking about playing chess with Carlos here.
And every once in a while in the chess game, Carlos knows that Cal is going to make a big mistake. He says to Carlos, he says to Cal, are you sure you want to make that move? Are you sure? Now that's the same way as God.
He lets you take a taste of the wrong way. He'll taste the bitterness of it. And it's just like God saying, are you sure you want to go that road? Are you sure? He's not a judge. If you're a child of God, He's your Father.
And He loves you. He's given you eternal life. And the Lord Jesus is responsible to see to it that you get to heaven. That's His responsibility. So you get that in your mind. You can never lose it. Because you got eternal life as a gift.
But the kind of eternal life you got, it's that word eternal, that's describing the kind of salvation you got. It's an eternal salvation. And you're not responsible for making it an eternal salvation.
That's the Lord Jesus' responsibility. The minute you trusted Him as your Savior and you obeyed the Gospel, He came in and He said, now, I'm responsible to see you get to heaven. There's a verse in the Hebrews that says, John, when the Lord Jesus gets home and all His children with Him, He's going to say to His Father, Behold, I and the children whom Thou hast given Me.
And He's not going to say, a lost one. Not a one. He says, they're all here but Judas. But I never lost him. He never was one of Mine. But every true child of God will be there. You can't imagine the Lord Jesus getting to heaven after being responsible for getting all the children home to glory safely as their captain, as Hebrews 2 says, and have the captain say to his master, I lost some.
The Lord Jesus never lost anything. And He never will. He's never failed in any responsibility. And He won't with you either. You get this in your mind, young believer. Your getting to heaven is not in your hands.
It's in the hands of the Lord Jesus. He has made the promise that He is qualified and He is responsible for your eternal salvation. Now remember, going along the way, as a son and a daughter, you may mix things up, mess things up, and He'll treat you as a father.
But never as a judge. Now, chapter 5, verse 11 of 1 John. And this is the record that God has given to us eternal life. See, He gave us eternal life. And what does He say? And this life is in His Son.
I hope when I'm done here, that you're all going to appreciate that you're in Christ. And that's where you get everything. Everything you have that's worthwhile having is in Christ. And this eternal life that you have is in Christ.
Your life is hid with Christ in God. So, our eternal life is in Christ. Verse 13, These things have I written unto you that ye may know that you have eternal life. To know that, just picture yourself being in some religion out there.
And you're saved. But the type of salvation you have is half based on faith and half on works. You're really not sure you're going to be in heaven. Because they tell me, you know, I'm not in heaven yet, so how can I be sure I'll be there?
I haven't met God yet. When I meet God, God will tell me. But I haven't seen God yet. He hasn't told me. So I'm trying. How many Christians are like that? They're out there by the thousands. They're living miserable lives.
Because they're never sure. If somebody would come and tell them, now listen, as long as you don't do this sin, you'll be alright. Or as long as you do these many good works, you'll be alright. But nobody tells them how many good works they have to do and what sins they must not do.
That's not in their equation. They just say, if you endure to the end, you'll be saved. In the Caribbean they used to say it this way, if you serve God, you'll be in heaven. If you serve the devil, you'll be in hell.
So that is, if you do good, you'll be in heaven. If you do bad, you'll be in hell. Now if you do good, will you be in heaven? Do the good people go to heaven? See, this is where these people go all...
You just throw them into confusion when you say, good people don't go to heaven. And bad people don't necessarily go to hell. Well, they look at you like you're a little problem. You mean good people don't go to heaven?
Well, no. That's not what the Bible says. And bad people don't go to hell. Well, no. That's not what the Bible says. You can find any place in the Bible where it says bad people go to hell and good people go to heaven.
If you ever thought that, then you've missed the whole thing we've been talking about. Because there are no good people. Not a good one. There's not a just man on the face of the earth that doeth habitually good and sins not.
That man don't exist. So, there's no good people to go to heaven. They're all bad as far as God's concerned. He looked down from heaven to see if there were any upon the earth that did good and sin not.
And he looked down and he found they were all together become filthy. Not a good one. So, this idea that people have, religious people especially, I talked to one in the place there in the laundromat today.
He would think he's good. He's good. Well, you get in your mind, young believer, that you're not going to be in hell because you're bad. I mean, you couldn't be in hell because you're bad or anybody else.
And nobody else can be in heaven because they're good. Because there is no good people. They're all bad. And that's the wonderment. That God came to me, a bad guy, and God revealed to me, listen, my son died for you on that cross.
He bore your sins in his own body in that tree that he might bring you to God. He died, he was buried, and on the third day rose again and he brought me right to God in Christ. He did that for you. And you have to understand, God did it all.
And on that basis, you can know that you have eternal life. These things have I written unto you that you may know that you have eternal life. Don't be a doubting Christian. That's miserable. By faith you know that you have eternal life because God said so.
Now, verse 18. Now, we're going to change this verse a little bit. Now, a little controversy over this verse, but at any rate, this is the way I interpret it and I have pretty good support. It's not coming out of my own head.
Though there are others who would look at it a little different way. But at any rate, whatever I'm saying, it's true. Though it may not be technically the way some would look at it. Now, verse 18 of 1 John 5.
We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not. That is, does not practice sin. That's the habitual sinning. A person who is saved does not habitually live in sin. No. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not habitually.
But he, now put a capital H on he. But he that is begotten of God, that's the Lord Jesus, keepeth himself. Now, take away himself. He that is begotten of God keepeth him. Take the word self off himself there.
And that wicked one touches him not. Or that wicked one cannot reclaim. That one. That wicked one is the devil. Now, let's read it as it is there in itself. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not.
You know any Christians that never sin? No. He don't exist. Because the first chapter of John says if any man said he sins not, he's lying. The truth is not in him. Alright. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not.
But he that is begotten of God keepeth himself. Now, can a Christian keep himself? Can you keep yourself? Well, you just try it. You try keeping yourself. See, you can't do it. The Apostle Paul says, the things that I would, that I do not, and the things that I would, that I do.
Oh, wretched man that I am! Who is going to deliver me from this body of flesh and sin? You cannot keep yourself. So that wicked one touches you not. Now, there are people out there who want to teach that we can lose our salvation, that we don't have an eternal salvation.
Go to this verse. And they take it at face value, there's it is. And they push that. And a lot of their members, they don't know, they're there to be taught. They come, they think they're being taught the truth and this is what they teach them.
But if you take this verse and interpret it the way I've put it for you, it will clear the matter up for you. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not. But the Lord Jesus, that is the Lord Jesus, but he that is begotten of God keepeth him.
Who's keeping me? Who's responsible for my eternal salvation? Me? You? The pastor? The church? No. The Lord Jesus. Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 9. Keepeth him and that wicked one touches him not. Now, in closing, we'll use just a little illustration or an example from the Bible.
A story you know well. One day the Lord Jesus said to Peter, He said, Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you twelve. All you twelve disciples. But I have prayed for you that your faith fail not.
Now, Peter came about as close to being an apostate as a Christian, a child of God can. A child of God cannot be a real apostate. And the closest they can come to it is what Peter did there. When Peter denied the Lord.
I don't know. And he cursed and swore and sinned. I don't know the man. He denied the Lord. Now, the Lord Jesus said that if it was His prayer that kept Peter's faith from failing. That is, the word failing just means becomes invalid.
Worthless. Good. Canceled out. The Lord Jesus said, Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to reclaim you. But I have prayed for you that your faith fail not. Peter could not lose what God gave him. And neither can you.
Because the Lord Jesus lives in the presence of God for you every day of your life. Right now and all day, the Lord Jesus has been in the presence of God representing you there. Being everything that you need to be accepted by God.
And He will be that forever. Because your life is hid with Christ in God. Let us pray. Our Father, we pray Thy blessing upon Thy Word. And in a world of religious confusion where Satan is the God of this world responsible for all the religious confusion that exists.
Help us, we pray, not to fall prey to any of his lies or any of the false things that he promotes through his false teachers in this world. Help us, we pray, just to rely on what Thy Word says. And that Thy Son is qualified and He's well able to be responsible for our eternal salvation.
For we have believed, we have obeyed the Gospel. He lives in Thy presence to keep us. We thank Thee, our Father, for that. For if we had to keep ourselves, none of us would make it. We're just too weak.
There's too much of the flesh in us. There's too much of unbelief in us. We simply could not have made it. But we bow tonight to thank Thee that our life is hid with Christ in God. No power in earth or hell can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.
So part us with Thy blessing, we pray, and we give thanks again for our eternal security. Amen. 270. Sovereign grace or sin abounding Ransomed souls the tidings swell Tis a deep that knows no sounding Who its wealth and length can tell On its glories let my soul forever dwell.
270.