Indelible Salvation

Please turn your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 43. If you're using the Pew Bible, that can be found on page 604.

Isaiah chapter 43. When you have that, go ahead and stand.

I'll begin in verse eight. Bring out the people who are blind yet have eyes, who are deaf yet have ears.

All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this and show us the former things?

Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right. And let them hear and say it is true. You are my witnesses, declares the

Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen. That you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.

Before me no God was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the

Lord, and besides me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed.

When there was no strange God among you, and you are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and I am your

God, I am God. Also henceforth, I am he. There is none who can deliver from my hand.

I work, and who can turn it back? Amen. You may be seated. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for the comforts it gives. And this verse is a very comforting verse. Who can deliver from your hand?

We ask that you would help us to see the greatness of your salvation in order that we may be comforted by it, that it would be filled with gratitude and love.

In Jesus' name, amen. I've entitled this message Indelible Salvation.

If indelible is not a word that you are familiar with, it simply means something that cannot be erased. If you write with a chisel into stone, it is indelible.

It cannot be removed. So God's salvation is indelible.

It cannot be removed. You may have heard this described in various terms.

Sometimes it's crassly described as once saved, always saved, suggesting some sort of detachment between God's purposes in preserving his saints and their final end.

Of course, I would not suggest such a thing. Maybe you've heard it described as eternal security, something that's very common in Southern Baptist circles, describe it as eternal security.

But it is simply the fact that none can deliver from his hand. When he intends to save, he will save.

And that implies every aspect of that salvation. Not only is that justification not lost, but people continue in sanctification all the way to glorification, as it describes in Romans chapter eight, those who are predestined are justified, those who are justified are sanctified, et cetera.

God saves all the way to the end. When he says also, henceforth,

I am he, what does he mean when he says, I am he? Well, he's speaking to the previous verses.

There is no other savior other than him. There is no other God other than him. In verse 10, he's describing the fact that he is the only savior.

T is the only God, I am he. And yet, at the same time, when he speaks with the ambiguous sort of he without a very direct antecedent, because he has said this a few times before, that I am he, in verse 10 he said, you should understand that I am he.

He's simply talking about the fact that it is assumed that there is a great power that is greater than all others.

Even pagans recognize this. Greek philosophers, many religions, they recognize that there is one great power over all others.

God is he. He is the greatest of all. He transcends all things.

It is he. There is no other God. None has been formed before him. None has been formed after him.

There is no other savior. There is none that is able to save. It is only he.

Henceforth, it is he. The previous verse talked about the past. I declared and saved and proclaimed.

These are past tense things. God has demonstrated the truth of his salvation by saving at a time when there is no other

God. But also, from henceforth, I am he. He continues to save.

He is the only savior and he remains the only savior. He says there is none who can deliver from his hand.

Now, on one hand, you might be used to thinking of that as deliverance from salvation, right?

That when he saves and has you in his hand, you cannot be delivered from that salvation. And that may be, indeed, what is directly intended here because he is talking about salvation.

Yet at the same time, a lot of time, what deliverance means is deliverance from an enemy. So it very well may be the case that he is describing that as he attacks the enemies of his people, that none will be able to deliver from his hand to keep him from attacking those enemies.

Because he is strong in salvation and in judgment, and specifically he is strong in salvation through judgment.

That is how salvation happens, by God judging the enemy, salvation through judgment.

He says, I work and who can turn it back? When he does something, who can undo it?

He is high above all. His works are indelible. They cannot be undone.

And when he says this, remember the context is that it has been prophesied that they will go into Babylon and that he will save, and now he is prophesying that he will save them out of Babylon.

But when he uses this phrase, I work, and who can turn it back? He is calling to mind something that was said earlier, a different prophecy that was given at an earlier time.

This different prophecy was given in the oracle concerning Assyria in Isaiah chapter 14.

In Isaiah 14, as the people were going to be assaulted by Assyria, and remember that that assault by Assyria comes in the late 30s in those chapters.

The Lord of hosts has sworn, as I have planned, so shall it be. As I have purposed, so shall it stand.

I will break the Assyrian in my land, and all my mountains trample him underfoot, and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden from their shoulder.

This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.

So here we have his hand being that which is grasping the enemy, right? So think of not being able to deliver the enemy from his hand.

This is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations, for the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it?

His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back? So there have been various enemies that assault the people.

Okay, first there is Assyria, is the biggest empire that does so, and then there is

Babylon, later on there will be Persia, that's the main empire, and then later on there is

Greece, and then later on there is Rome, right? And so what he is doing when he is using this phrase

I work, and who can turn it back? He's calling to mind a former prophecy of Isaiah when

Isaiah had prophesied the same thing about Assyria, and indeed he fulfilled that prophecy, he saved the people at the last moment.

If you remember, 800 ,000 Assyrians gathered around Jerusalem all the other cities had fallen, and on the night as they begin that siege, the angel of the

Lord kills that many from their camp, 800 ,000 of them, so that the remainder has to go away defeated.

God miraculously saved them from Assyria, and calling that same phrase to mind assures them that he will likewise save them from Babylon.

But as we have seen repeatedly throughout this whole thing, as we see consistently verses used in the

New Testament that interpret these passages in Isaiah 40, Isaiah 41, Isaiah 42,

Isaiah 43, as all being about the Messiah, we should understand that this is not just a prophecy about salvation from Babylon, that these are verses for us to cherish, they are ultimately about our salvation.

As it says in Peter, the prophets who prophesied about the salvation that was to be yours, search inquired carefully into these things to know what manner it would come about, it was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, you.

These things are ultimately not for just those who would be saved from Babylon, they are ultimately for you, in order that you would know the fullness of salvation in a way even beyond them, because you do not just look forward to a coming

Messiah, you have already received the Messiah in order that you might know how his work has happened, that none can deliver from his hand, that he has worked and none can turn it back, his salvation is indelible, his salvation is powerful.

I have a lot of verses today. I had a lot of verses this morning too, so I hesitate to apologize,

I don't like taking you all over scripture, I like to be able to focus, but at the same time, there's just so many relevant texts here.

Isaiah 42, verse two, or excuse me, Job 42 too, I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted, okay,

God's purposes cannot be thwarted, he is all powerful, when he fights the enemy, he is all powerful, and he is positioned all powerfully, he is above all things.

Psalm 115, verse three says, our God is in the heavens, he does all that he pleases, okay, he is most powerful, and he is of course powerful in salvation, and in salvation through judgment, as he judges the enemy.

Now it is not just the case that he is powerful against the enemy to be stronger than the enemy as a peer that is just a greater peer, he is also strong over the enemy, and that he is sovereign over the enemy, okay, he is the king of kings, he determines everything about the enemy.

Proverbs 21, one says, the king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the

Lord, he turns it wherever he will, that's an important verse to think about, if you ever get any kind of anxiety about world conflict, et cetera, remember that the

Lord is in control, the king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord, he is turning it how he will, it's not just that the

Lord is stronger than the king, the Lord is sovereign over the king, such that that king is obeying

God's decree, though he may not even realize it, you look at Pharaoh, and Pharaoh is resisting the

Lord, and it said that he is hardening his own heart, and yet at the same time, it says that God is hardening his heart, why?

Because as Romans nine reveals to us, God is giving him over to his wickedness for his purposes, raising

Pharaoh up in order that God's glory may be shown when Pharaoh resists,

God sends more plagues to demonstrate his glory. Pharaoh was not working counter to God's plan,

God was not surprised with what Pharaoh was doing, Pharaoh was operating perfectly according to God's plan, and so God is sovereign over the enemy, including the great enemy, of course,

Satan himself, the accuser, how is it that the cross came about? Was it not by the enemy's own doing?

Him entering into Judas, betraying Jesus Christ, et cetera? The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the

Lord, he turns it wherever he will. Now he is not just sovereign over the enemy, but he likewise transcends all things, even to speak of his strength is to potentially suggest something that would be misguided, that basically there are these two strengths, and God's strength is some great multiple over the others, or maybe it's infinite in comparison, in a way that is, as you increase numbers, you approach infinity, maybe you think that, okay, it's not just that God's strength is a great multiple over, maybe he's infinitely stronger, but it's even beyond that, his strength transcends any kind of notion of creaturely strength, because he is the one who has created all things, there's just not a comparison, these are not things that could be compared so that you could even say one is infinitely greater in a direct sense, you can say that, but what we mean is so much more, his strength transcends any kind of notions of creaturely strength.

Isaiah 40, verse 28, just before this, spoke and said, have you not known, have you not heard, the

Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth, he does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is unsearchable.

This whole passage, that whole passage in Isaiah 40, if you remember when we went through it, was using

God's eternity, the fact that he transcends time itself, to demonstrate his omnipotence, to demonstrate that he is all powerful, the one communicates the other, and the same thing is happening here, when it's saying that he pre -exists all gods and there will never be a

God that's formed after him, when he's saying that he's done all these things in the past and he'll do them to eternity, henceforth, et cetera, in giving that past and future picture of himself, he's making the same appeal that he was making earlier in chapter 40, to his eternity, that he is everlasting, and so in transcending time itself, he transcends notions of strength, such that his strength is one that's categorically different than human strength, he is sovereign over all, such that we should not question his strength.

In Romans chapter nine, that very same passage I mentioned that spoke of God being sovereign over Pharaoh and raising

Pharaoh up for his purposes, talks about the fact that we should not question him. How can the potter, how can the clay say to the potter, why have you made me like this?

Many people question God's salvation, they question him in all different ways, they say, why has

God say this way? Why does he allow bad things to happen to good people? Now, there is a reasonable way to ask that question where you're genuinely curious why things happen in the world.

Now, of course, the wrong assumption there is that there are good people, right? None is good, none is righteous, as Romans tells us, that we're all wicked until God has saved us, that is what makes us, quote unquote, good people, it's the righteousness of Christ credited to us, our own souls saved by the forgiveness of Christ so that we have standing in him, this is what makes us good, and then the spirit working in us that we might do what is good even though we ourselves are still imperfect and growing in holiness.

There's a reasonable way to ask some of these questions, but many people ask these questions in judgment over God, basically projecting their own weakness, saying in their minds, if I were

God, I would be doing these things this way, why is God not doing things this way? And not asking that question in sincerity, wanting to be instructed, but rather asking that question in judgment, asking

God to give an account, an account for himself. Daniel 4, 35 says, all the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say to him, what have you done?

No one can challenge him on any of these things, he is high above being challenged, one who is just stronger than you, you could challenge him, you could say, why are you doing this?

God is high above all, we do not have even grounds on which we could question him and ask him to conform to some standard of good because he is the only standard of good.

People don't just say things like, why do bad things happen to good people? They also simply assume notions of salvation, the way that God's salvation must work to fit their preconceived notions of what a good

God would do. The primary objection to the idea of an indelible salvation, to the idea that one cannot lose that status that they have with God because his works are not undone, is basically the assumption that if they were to be the savior, then they would grant people such a liberty that basically they could move in and out of such states.

These are assumptions that people are making about the nature of God based on their own nature, rather than recognizing that they are made in the image of God, they want to make their

God in the image of them. Do not think that way, do not question God. Come to his word to be instructed by him and to be measured by him, not to measure him according to some other standard.

And so, if he is powerful in salvation, then salvation cannot be lost. First of all, this is simply true just based on the definitions these people make.

And the definitions that you see in scripture. Okay, when it calls it eternal life, that does not mean potentially temporary life or potentially eternal life.

It really means eternal life, it is life that lasts forever. Philippians 1, 6 says,

I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of Christ Jesus. God finishes those works he goes about.

When he sets to his work, who can turn it back? No one can turn it back.

And of course, it is interesting because one of the primary ways that we see this expressed in the

New Testament and the gospel of John is with the notion of deliverance from his hand.

In John 6, verse 37, it says, all that the father gives me will come to me. And whoever comes to me,

I will never cast out. Okay, all that come to me, none of them are cast out.

John 10, 27 through 29, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish.

No one will snatch them out of my hand. See, no one's able to deliver out of his hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand.

See, no one's able to deliver them out of the father's hand. Neither the son nor the father, both of them grasp their people, their sheep, their hands, none is able to take them out because when

God works, none can change that work. None can turn that work back. And just something that simply cannot be undone.

He is not a weak savior. He is not a savior who is trying his hardest to save and failing in some cases.

He is a savior who's perfectly accomplishing the salvation that he intends to accomplish. And those who he saves, he keeps.

This is a great comfort to the believer. If you are used to thinking of your salvation as something that relies on you, you're standing before God as something that relies on you, then you will see the love that God has for you as something that is wavering.

But it is not wavering, it is fixed. If he has given us his own son, how much more will he give us all things?

Romans 8, 38 to 39 says, "'For I am sure that neither death, nor life, "'nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, "'nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, "'nor depth, nor anything else in all creation "'will be able to separate us from the love of God "'in

Christ Jesus our Lord.'" Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. If you are in Christ Jesus, if you have trusted in him, then there's nothing that can separate you.

You are united to Christ. No one can undo that work. Now, if you do not know

Christ, you do not have that same guarantee of his love. You know, my prayer would be that you would be one of his sheep and that you would be joined to him.

But if you have not trusted in him, this cannot be said of you. This comfort can only be had through Jesus Christ.

Turn to him and he will grant that comfort. And if you have turned to him, there's no need to doubt. There's no need to wonder if he really loves you, et cetera.

If he has given you Christ, how much more will he give you all things? Nothing can separate you from the love of God.

I know many people who will read this passage, they'll see Paul speaking so extensively, neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

They say, okay, yes, none of those things can separate me from the love of God, but I could separate myself from the love of God.

Do you think you're stronger than angels? Do you think you're stronger than things present or things to come or that you're stronger than God himself?

When he works, who can turn it back? Not even you can turn it back. You see, if you think of his salvation as something that is external to you, where you've got this core self that is your own identity and your own choices, et cetera, and that's not really what he's transforming.

He's not really transforming your heart. He's just kind of making a pathway for you. Then, yeah, if your heart decides to go a different way, you could go somewhere else, but his salvation is complete.

It's not just over your circumstances and everything such that you would have an eternity in paradise with the

Savior and all his people. It likewise is a salvation over your own heart, which is corrupt before him.

Your heart is black, it is wicked apart from Jesus Christ, but in him, he transforms you to love him, to come to him, and so that salvation that cannot be undone includes the work that keeps you with him, keeps you drawn to him.

Now, you may not always love him as you ought to love him because in this life, that work of salvation, while it is complete for its initial purposes, continues through this life, growing us in a love for him, in a desire of him, but it is sufficiently there in all believers such that none would ever leave.

Those who leave either never knew him or it is simply a temporary thing where because of the seed of God within them, because of that work, they will always be drawn back.

There is that 100 % guarantee because when he starts a work, he always finishes it.

When he works, none can turn it back. Be comforted by the love of God.

Do not doubt his love. When you are struggling with peace, when you are struggling with anxiety and you don't feel the peace of God, simply remind yourselves of these truths.

These are very simple truths that Romans 8 gives us, that Isaiah chapter 43 is giving us, and remind yourself of Christ's love for you.

If you are full of the kinds of anxieties that say, I don't know if I will be sufficiently taken care of,

I don't know if God is sufficiently for me, all you have to do is turn to those promises and believe those promises.

They will carry you through. They are most good and the Holy Spirit will help you to believe if you are struggling to believe.

You can call out, I believe, help my unbelief, and he will help your unbelief.

You know, there are many women who are anxious because they do not know whether or not their husbands will provide for them, are capable of providing for them, and I don't just mean money.

Sometimes money's the issue, but a lot of times it's other things, right? It's certain kinds of emotional needs, et cetera, right?

And so they're very anxious about whether or not their husband will provide. This is what happens when the bride of Christ is not thinking about her

Savior the way that she should. When you are not thinking about Christ's love for you the way that you want, and you think that you need to take matters in your own hands, and by taking matters in your own hands,

I'm not necessarily talking about different sorts of actions. I'm just talking about taking that anxiety that belongs to the

Lord and putting it on yourself as though he doesn't care for you, right? Saying that the hairs on my head are not numbered, that he doesn't care for me, that he cares for the sparrows, he cares for the lilies of the field, but he does not care for me, and so I need to weigh those anxieties.

I need to worry about that kind of thing. You don't need to worry because the groom cares for the bride, okay?

The Savior cares for you. This is basically what

I was saying this morning, that any kind of difficulty that you experience in this life, any kind of persecution, is not in spite of God's love.

He knows perfectly what you need. It is certainly because of his love. All things work together for good to those who love him.

He is operating in love towards his people. Now, this salvation, it cannot be lost, and this salvation likewise declares the goodness of the

Messiah and who he is. If you look back at the passage that begins this inclusio, you know, an inclusio is a fancy word that basically just means whenever an

Old Testament passage uses the same phrase at the beginning and end of a section. Okay, in verse 10, it said, you must understand that I am he, and then here it says,

I am he. Okay, so it says at the end of verse 10, and it says at the beginning of verse 13, these sections are linked, and it kind of unites this as a little subsection within this paragraph.

When he says, you are my witnesses, declares the Lord, my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.

Before me no God is formed, nor shall there be any after me. In John 13, in John 13, verse 19, it says,

I am telling you this now, and what he has told them at this point is basically that he will be betrayed by one.

He's describing all this in order that they would know. I'm telling you this now before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am he.

Okay, so Jesus in John chapter 13 is saying that he says things beforehand, how the salvation is going to be accomplished in order that you would know that I am he, right?

That he is he. Now, what had it said here?

That he declares the salvation beforehand and accomplishes it in order that you would know that he is the one, that he is

God. This marvelous, miraculous salvation that's happening even at the hands of his enemies, him using his own enemies, that prophecy that Christ is giving in order that you might know who he is.

Happening through Judas, happening through Satan in Judas, accomplishing that salvation in the prophesied manner demonstrates that he is this great savior.

He is the one whose work cannot be turned back. He is the one who is God. And even consider what this passage is saying, that none can deliver from his hand, that that demonstrates that he is

God. Now, if you believe that Jesus is not

God, for example, and you would say, okay, the Father and the Son are not the same being, what's happening in salvation?

Who is Christ saving from? You could say from Satan, because he is the accuser, but whose hand do you lie in?

Whose wrath is stretched out against you apart from the work of the Son? Now, God in his love sent his

Son, so it's not that the Father does not love us prior to salvation, yet at the same time, what we are delivered from is the wrath of God.

It's not the wrath of Satan. He's not going to be in charge of hell. It's the wrath of God that we are delivered from.

So if you have this split in the Trinity, such that the Father and the Son are distinct beings, what's happening?

The Son is delivering from the Father's hand, the one who says that none can deliver from his hand, but that's not what's happening.

The Father is graciously by the Son, ensuring that we are delivered from the wrath to come.

And they are one. This is how the Son is able to say, none is able to snatch out of his hand, none is able to snatch out of my hand, is because they are one.

Their wills are one because their will is only one. They share one will because they are one

God. Three persons and one God. This incredible salvation from this incredible God should give an incredible comfort.

When I was first introduced to this doctrine, well,

I had heard it a couple of times from those who were hostile to it, and so I never took it seriously. I grew up not believing that one, that salvation,

I grew up believing that you could lose your salvation. That's what

I grew up believing. That's not even necessarily what my parents believe.

It's just what I grew up believing because of what I've been exposed to, et cetera. And when someone for the first time explained it to me in a way where I was faced with what

I was saying, I just realized how crazy it was. He was saying, well, what does that mean then if we're saved by grace through faith?

What does that mean if you could lose your salvation? Who is maintaining the salvation?

If it's not grace that's maintaining the salvation, if you're maintaining the salvation, it's not grace, it's you, right?

And it all crumbled right there, and I realized, oh, wow. Yeah, I can't believe I ever thought that you could lose your salvation.

It was just, it was an instant. I'd believed that my whole life. I had always thought it was silly to think anything otherwise.

And the first time someone pointed this out to me, it just crumbled instantly because I realized, okay, that means, that would mean that the burden falls on me to maintain my salvation, and that can't be because he is the

Savior. And it was at that moment that I had just an incredible gratitude for the

Lord that was far beyond that gratitude that I had experienced before. Now, I already trusted the

Lord for my salvation. I was inconsistent here. I already truly trusted in him, but I was saying things that I had not played out what they meant.

And when I realized what I was saying and immediately turned from that, it was just much clearer to me what it was that he was doing in salvation and how much salvation should be credited to him.

I would have always said it was all of it, but now I was reeling, oh, it really is all of it. It really is all of it.

Now, I was fortunate in that the Lord saved me at a time where I was inconsistent.

Now, the one who is consistent in what they are saying, what they would say in their heart of hearts, what they are truly saying is that they are the ones maintaining their salvation.

Now, I didn't believe that. And when I realized those were the meaning of the words coming out of my mouth, I turned from that.

But if someone says, if someone really in their heart believes this truth, defends it to the death because what's going on is they think that their salvation is ultimately coming from them, that it's not grace that's persevering them, it's themselves that's persevering themselves.

They think that they can lose their salvation and they're willing to defend that despite what Scripture says. This is something to be very concerned about.

On the one hand, we should be charitable to others that may not have all these things worked out. And I understand that because I was in that position.

But this is something where if someone were consistent in what they were saying with their mouth and what their heart is actually embracing, it is not the true gospel.

It's a different gospel. It's a different God. It's not the God who saves by grace, but it's rather a

God who starts off salvation by grace and then we finish it off ourselves. Galatians 3 .3

says, Are you so foolish having begun by the Spirit? Are you now being perfected by the flesh?

That's not how it works. We begin in the Spirit and we are perfected by the Spirit.

It is God continuing to save and His work is not undone. Applying this to yourself, remember not to question the

Lord. You can ask questions about what His word says or what He is doing, but do not submit

Him to your own judgment as though you are above Him. He is far above you. No one can question what

He is doing. This is the kind of salvation that He grants. No one can question the goodness of His salvation. There is not a better salvation that He could give.

If you have in your mind a way that it would be better. You know,

I've heard people say that they pray for everyone to be saved, like not just they pray for each person individually, but really that they hope that there is no hell and that basically the word is saying something that's not true.

Because they imagine that they have a better idea of what salvation is than God and they hope that that's the case.

You know, if it's not, they're okay with it, but they're hoping that it's the case that every single person will be saved.

And so what's going on in their mind is I have a better idea of salvation than God does. Okay, don't be that person.

Don't be that person who thinks you have a better salvation in mind than God does. Do not question Him. He grants the perfect salvation.

He has ordained things perfectly. On that last day, you will see it all harmonious. You will understand why

He did it all. If you do not understand any part now, you will understand them, but understand the parts that He has explained now even.

Take comfort in this truth that your salvation cannot be lost, that you rest securely in the hand of the Lord if you are one who has trusted

Him. If you are not one who has trusted Him, I would not want to give you any kind of security. I would want to tell you immediately turn to the

Lord. I've heard some people say, take your time, think it over. Don't do that. Turn to the Lord immediately.

Search the Word to see if these things I'm saying are true, but turn to Him.

He is the only Savior. You stand before a holy God. We have all sinned before Him.

We stand under His wrath apart from something to bear that wrath for us, and Christ is the one who has done that.

He has stood in the place of His people. All those who trust in Him are His people. Take comfort in this.

Remind yourself of this. If you struggle with peace, and also identify whether or not you're struggling with peace.

I think a lot of people, a lot of people recognize that they're struggling with peace. A lot of people don't recognize it, and they're kind of in denial.

You know, if you see yourself, you know, I don't know.

There's all kinds of ways you could do it. If you have a problem with cursing, if you have a problem with, you know, just any kind of erratic behavior, a lot of these things get labeled by the world as, you know, certain kinds of disorders.

Almost all of this is just attributed to a lack of peace. If you would just take inventory and watch yourself throughout the day and see anything, any kind of behavior in yourself that might get labeled an anxiety disorder or would be a real evidence that you are not going about your life with a kind of evenness that would represent one who has peace, take it before the

Lord and remind yourself of his love and ask yourself, am I experiencing the love of God? Am I doubting his love for me, his ability to care for me, his willingness to do so, the fact that he is doing so?

Do I feel at peace with the Lord? Ask yourself those things and then remind yourself of these truths. And then, last of all, contend for this.

This is an important one. Okay, this is the idea that you can lose your salvation is something that is so contrary to the gospel if held consistently.

This is something that you should be ready to contend for. If you have other friends who are believers or ostensibly believers and would say such things,

I'm so thankful that someone came into my life who explained this to me when I didn't know any better.

Be ready to explain this. Have a verse memorized. There's lots of verses on this, so many.

You can memorize this one, Isaiah 43, Isaiah 43, 13. You can memorize the ones in John 6 and John 10.

You can memorize Philippians 1, 9. You can memorize any of those. I would encourage you, if you don't have any verse on this topic memorized, memorize one that you would have ready and be ready to explain it to the one who doesn't understand.

Don't tell yourself that, you know, understanding the Bible is too hard or explaining things is too hard and that's a job for other people.

This is something that so many people face and you will encounter so many people that face this. You need to be ready to give just a basic accounting of the fact that salvation cannot be lost.

Just a basic accounting. Be ready to contend for the hope that is within you. And that hope is a certain hope of a salvation that cannot be lost because Christ saves perfectly.

When he works, no one can turn it back. Amen. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the work of Jesus Christ, that indelible work that no one can turn back.

We pray that you would fill us with great comfort and love, knowing what

Christ has done for us, that we would be full of joy because of our Savior. In Jesus' name, amen.