Colossians 1:23 - Eternal Security Through the Bible, Pt. 4

The Just and Righteous One in Control

When you have someone who is perfectly just and righteous all together.

Then.

That person is the one really in control then you don't have to worry and be frightened, right? But you do need to be concerned and and we are concerned and it's gonna be an interesting interesting week.

So I hope when we get back together next Sunday We can have a celebration and we can have one no matter what. But it might be slightly different type of celebration we'll just have to see but I'm hoping we have the happy kind of celebration.

All right. Enough of enough of that for now because we have something far more important than politics or presidents or anything like that. And that is the Word of God, but I want to read this first. This is from Miss Judy.

You know what? I'm gonna read that I'm gonna have to get these glasses on here. Judy sent the whole church a card and It says my travels over 26 days. Include included 13 states. Plus, Washington DC making 19 stops seeing 65 people in two reunions.

One in Pittsburgh and one in Williamsburg so blessed for the renewal of family ties and increased friendships. God answered so many prayers safe travels perfect weather. The hurricane went through there after you got home, right?

Wow.

Because she went right through that part some of that countryside and so Health for me with both strength and balance and I could not have asked for more. Again, thank you all For praying for me and give giving me wonderful travel messages along the way.

With love and gratitude Judy Ross. Well, we did follow you all along the way, but we look forward to hearing the details. Some of them already have maybe but I've been gone. So I want to hear. And we're so glad the Lord watched over you.

He gave us safety and beautiful weather too on our trip, but It you know, I'm so glad he blessed you because yours was a driving trip and that's a whole different thing and. And So, I just think what you accomplished is amazing.

You are a what are you 18?

Okay.

Eternal Security in Colossians 1:22-23

We are in Colossians chapter 1 and.

So.

Let me get you to turn to Colossians chapter 1 verse 22, please. Come in. Come in. I Always figure it out. I think I think angels let you in. Or the angel Matt or whatever. Whoever it was. All right, Colossians chapter 1 verse 22 in The body of his flesh talking about Jesus, of course through death.

He presents us.

Holy.

Unblameable unapprovable in his sight and remember he's holy. So we're those things in God's sight because Jesus presents us that way. Now there is maybe no greater Verse in the Bible that teaches that once you are truly saved you cannot lose it than that one.

Because I'm going to tell you something if you stand before God holy and you stand before God unblameable and you stand before him Unapprovable, which means you can't be judged in a in a negative way and then it's Jesus that presents you that way.

You're good.

Okay.

So the question we've been talking about for several weeks is why is the next verse start with the word if and seriously most of the Bible is written for you know like a junior high child or anybody in the whole world to just read it plainly and Doesn't mean you understand everything the first time you read it.

But it's written where normal people like us can just read it and God can teach us things. But there are a few verses in the Bible I'd say maybe two hands full in the whole Bible that we would call difficult passages.

Where the scripture that says study to show thyself approved unto God comes into play where you may have spent days Hours or days or whatever to study why you think that verse contradicts another verse?

I mean, honestly, if you know all of the hundreds of eternal security verses in the Bible You would think verse 23 contradicts those on first reading because verse 23 says if You continue. Well, that's something you got to do.

That looks like a work if you continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. Then you'll have eternal security is what that sounds like but it's not what it means.

But you might have to study that for hours weeks and months to figure out that's not what it means. But the reason the main reason you would initiate you to even do that study is because if it meant that it would contradict hundreds of verses of plain simple verses so one of the rules in Bible interpretation is you know, never take a difficult passage and Use it to change what you believe.

But always use plain simple passages to help you interpret the difficult passage and that's what we've been doing for weeks. Actually with this verse and so that gives you kind of a little background of where we are on this study.

Now.

It is interesting to that the word if there in the Greek can be translated because in his in other verses. So it could just say because and then there's no problem, but I like if I like it for a lot of reasons.

Main reason I like it because there's three kinds of people in an audience now if we had a church. So we say three four hundred then I could say that in that church with that many people. There'd be three kinds of people in there a church this small.

Maybe only two maybe just one maybe all saved people. I don't know but in a big church, there'd be three first one would be a saved sheep. All right, somebody's born again. Second would be an unsaved sheep.

Hey, hey brother. Come on in. Unsaved sheep is a person who will be saved someday, but they're not saved yet. Right an unsaved sheep is Might call it a lost sheep and we know Jesus is the Shepherd. We know he doesn't leave any of them lost.

Does he he said it's his responsibility to find them all and they'll all be raised in the end. But you can have at a certain time in life Lost sheep in the room that are people that are lost. They're running around with the goats and Maybe they think they're a goat, but they're gonna get saved someday.

So they're a lost sheep and then the third kind are goats and that's people that'll never get saved. Doesn't matter what you say to them doesn't matter what you do. They will never get saved now. God knows who's who.

Jesus knew who was who? Jesus knew the whole time Judas walked with him as part of the family for three years that he was not really part of the Family, but he loved him anyway. Right, and you've heard me say before that.

I don't believe God loves everybody, but I'm talking about the father. When Jesus was in the earth in on the earth in time and space he loved everybody. That's what we're supposed to do. And if y 'all don't understand that I can't explain it in a minute, but if you've been here why you know that there's great benefit in understanding the distinction of the Godhead the Father of the Son the Holy Spirit the distinction how the Father is different than the Son and how the Son is different than the Father and how the Holy Spirit's different than The two and yet they're all the same in essence.

But they're different in action. They're different in. I won't call it duty. What's it another? What's a good word for that? Administration would be a good word for that. And if you understand that it helps you figure out a whole lot of Difficult passages that you might find.

So anyway Jesus is The one who is going to track down every single lost sheep and bring every one of them to God. So that not one will be left lost now. We know that but we've been talking about these things and so.

Questions About Who Continues, Who Believes, and Who Keeps Us Saved

The exact area where we have been in the last few Sundays is We started asking some questions now I'm gonna review just a little bit because I mean it's even been almost a month since I was in this material.

Although I studied it, you know before this morning when I got home, so I'm fresh on it. But I know you're not because you didn't have the opportunity to look at it. So let me just I'm just gonna name the questions and you probably already know the answers.

Especially the ones we hadn't covered yet and then that'll bring us to the where we are today. So the first question that I asked was and this is with regard to let me put that in context if you're visiting today.

Okay, the word if like like you're a flat saved forever if you continue. All right, what the question that we asked along the way was well, okay, who are the people who don't continue? Maybe they come to church for a while and maybe they act like they got saved.

Maybe they think they got saved but they don't continue with the Lord. Who are those people and we spent a lot of time on that in Scripture who they are. Basically the scripture said they are unbelievers.

Remember that we covered that clearly and then we asked. Okay, who are the people that do continue all the way to the end and basically the scripture says true believers. Okay, so that's simple. But then we asked this question.

Okay. Let's talk about the true believers who are the sheep. Who are saved or will be saved. First question? I would ask is who is responsible to keep them saved. Is it the sheep? Or is it the shepherd?

Okay, so we asked that if you study scripture, you will see the sheep is not responsible to keep himself saved. He is responsible to do the best life He can live today with the equipment God's given him, but he is not responsible for his own salvation.

God is the shepherd is Jesus Christ is if Jesus lets one of you in the room go to hell and you're a sheep. He will have to answer to God the Father for failing in His work as a shepherd that ain't gonna happen.

Number two question who promised to keep us saved. John chapter 5 24 truly truly I Jesus saying to you he that hears my word and believes on me. That's believes on him that sent me has Means already has in the Greek already has everlasting life and cannot come cannot come into condemnation.

But is passed already from death unto life. So who made that promise? What's his name? Very good Choir helps me out guys. If you're wondering who's talking back there. It's the choir. It's actually the Children's Church Choir.

We don't even have Children's Church. They get to stay in here. And this is why by the way. This is why they get to stay in here at this church. Because they need to be in the main service here the man of God preached and participate in it.

And I know that makes modern Americans uncomfortable, but we're not going to have Children's Church. We're gonna have it in here.

All right.

Third question and all of these had lots of detail already. Third question whose will is it? That we have eternal security and never can lose our salvation. Whose will is it. That makes that true. John 6 38 and this is the father's will which has sent me.

Jesus said that all of which he has given me I should lose nothing. But shall raise it up in the last day. So whose will is it that not one sheep will ever lose his salvation? All right the fourth question.

What what is man's responsibility in all this? We didn't cover that a whole lot. But we will but basically man's responsibility in all of this is to believe to believe that Jesus Christ died. To pay your entire sin debt of your whole life that even the ones you haven't done yet that he was buried with your old man and your old sin in him and That he rose again and that you rose with him and have a completely new life in your completely new creature a new person old.

Things are passed away. All things are new you believe that. That's your duty. All right now. There's a lot more to responsibility. But as far as the responsibility in salvation, it's Jesus's. You don't have any responsibility to get saved.

But once you are saved you got a lot of responsibility. You got a you've got to be a disciple. You've got to learn to walk with him. You've got to find all the imperatives in the New Testament where God said well if you're gonna be mine you do this you don't Do that and you got to start trying to be better at that, right?

That's your responsibility. But your responsibility didn't save you it is an effect of your salvation. So the fifth question was this who believes and who doesn't believe? Oh John chapter 10 verse 24 and following he was talking to some religious leaders of the day who were lost as a goose probably goats.

In fact, I can tell you some of them were goats because of what Jesus said to him, but in this one. You know Jesus. The Jews came around him is talking about the Pharisees the religious leaders and I said to him.

How long do you make us to doubt if you're really Christ? Tell us plainly in other words prove it. And Jesus answered them and I told you Already who I am and you believe not. The works that I do in the Father's name they bear witness of me, but you believe not because you are not of my sheep as I said unto you my sheep.

Hear my voice because I've given them ears to hear when the Holy Spirit calls you he gives you ears to hear and I know Them and they follow me so who are these people who do fall away where that if is and they don't continue in church or even acting like a Religious person or a Christian they just don't continue.

Who are they? They're people who Jesus said you're not of my sheep. Now, let me say this we the scope of this message doesn't allow me to go into things like backsliders. What is that? I mean all of us Can have seasons maybe because of something that happens.

Usually bad.

Where we backslide and that's a real terms kind of an Old Testament term really but I but I mean It's a good term to use where we just move away from God even even as a true believer. But you know why the Shepherd has a stick with a hook on the end of it.

That's why you don't lose your salvation, but you can backslide. I mean, so I'm not saying that but that's as I said, it's beyond the scope with this message. But I already stuck it in there. So there you go.

So who believes and who doesn't. The goats don't believe the sheep do all right. Six question. Whose power and work keeps us saved. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 24 and following he is able to save us to the uttermost.

You can't get more saved than that that coming to God by Jesus. Seeing that he ever liveth to make intercession for us so the person that keeps you saved is your high priest and your Advocate before the Father and your intercessor who is Jesus and it ain't you you don't keep you saved.

Jesus does. That's why you can't lose it. I mean, this is what we're talking about, right the next question. Oh I like Philippians 2 13 for it is God that works in you both to will and to do is good pleasure.

Listen Jesus isn't going to let you lose it. God is going to do two things. He's gonna make you want to do as good pleasure. That means to will. He's gonna make you will want to do as good pleasure and he's gonna make you do as good pleasure so you're gonna do good works, you're gonna bear fruit and True save people always bear fruit.

They don't all bear the same amount because we're all different but we all bear fruit and It's because God works in us his power in our lives. Seventh you can see I like reviewing because some of these I could preach every day.

Just love them. What makes us walk, right? What makes us walk right after we're saved. Hebrews 8 6 says I put my laws in their mind and write them in their hearts. All right number 8. The intercessory work of Jesus Christ his present work.

In heaven, that's another thing that helps us stay. Okay saved. I've already kind of touched on that the ninth thing what really saved us in the first place us. Or Jesus's blood. Yes. Hebrews 9 27 and 28 so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many not everybody.

But many who the sheep? He died gave his blood for all the sheep of all humanity all every air era era in human history. To all the way to the end. He was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him.

Shall he appear the second time without sin and the salvation and that's talking about the second coming and I wish it happened before.

Tuesday.

But it probably won't but it might. Wouldn't that surprise Kamala. Well anyway. Hey you like that. That surprised us all. Okay.

So.

It's his blood that saves us and and we know that so what about the old man. Can we make ourselves reject Christ and lose our own salvation see the Church Christ brothers and sisters in town? I got friends that go go there.

Well the one in May anyway, and they're wrong on their doctrine. I mean, we're wrong on some ires too, right and soon as you find it tell us we want to change that but they're wrong on this doctrine here because they think you can lose your salvation and What they'll do if you quote this verse I'm about to quote I'll show you what to do.

Let me quote the verse John chapter 10 verse 28 because actually it flat proves That your old man Cannot make you Reject Christ, which is what they say. He can do. And here's what it says John 8 10 28 and I given to them.

That's his people his sheep. Eternal life and I have to ask you this. How long is eternal and If you already have it because it's present tense, then how could it stop duh, okay. So we keep going. I given to them eternal life and they shall never perish.

How long is never? Okay, and God said it. Can he break his promise? No, so how could you lose it? Duh double duh? Okay, neither shall any man listen to this pluck them out of my hand whose hand Don't know that Jesus.

That's Jesus. Now. I have to tell you this in the Greek The word man is not there and that's where the Church Christ gets it wrong because I don't know if they know Greek or not. They say well any neither can any man pluck them out of the hand and I said, oh, yeah, that's true.

But you yourself could pluck yourself out of his hand. But the problem with that is in the Greek man is not there. It says neither shall anything. Anything pluck you out of my hand that includes your own self that includes everything under creation.

There's nothing under creation that can pluck you out of Jesus's hand now. Here's the great part. It goes on and says that you know, my father Also holds you in his hand. So here here you are the believer.

You're in the father's hand. Jesus's hand is on top and he says nobody can pluck you out of my hand. Nor can they pluck you out of my father's hand and then he said I and my father are one. Huh, I just don't get it people irritate me when they teach God's people they can lose their salvation.

It's flat. I don't get irritated with the sweet people that go to these churches other than the fact They ought not go there, but they're teachers. I get pretty irritated at them and I would debate them anytime you bring them to me.

You need help. Call me. I like it now the older I get the less I like it. I'll sick. I'll sick Matt and Matt and brother Paul and Ben on them and some of these some of you guys but Listen, you you let the the the Apostle Paul said when you hear somebody teaching false doctrine.

You need to shut their mouth, which means you need to tell them they're wrong. Especially if they're saying it in front of other young People who who may be swayed by them. You have to correct them right there.

You don't have a choice. All right. So then we talk about the flesh again. How can our own flesh make us lose it? We read Romans 7 18 and following where the Apostle Paul said I find myself now. He's the best Christian ever lived.

I find myself doing that which I don't believe in doing and I find myself not doing that which my heart and mind says I want To be doing for God wretched man that I am who will set me free from the body of this death and yet he didn't lose the salvation and Neither can you so your flesh can't make you?

Reject Christ. It's impossible. And you know what's interesting after the end of chapter 7 of Romans where Paul says that about himself is Chapter 8 starts and the first verse says this there's therefore now no Condemnation to them which are in Christ who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Beautiful in it. I wish they hadn't put that chapter right there. I wish they did made that the last verse of chapter 7 Said the first verse of chapter 8 because people miss that that's part of the thing.

Then the next question was does God love this. God's love for us depend on us. What does agape mean? Well by definition agape love is love that does not depend on the object. It depends on the heart of the lover.

So God's love is not swayed by whether you live good today or live bad today. You're his child. No matter what he might whip you to send Jesus after you with that stick. But he loves you he's not gonna kick you out of the family.

His love won't let him do that and We talked about that in detail as well now the next question was if God knew us and Predestinated us and called us and justified us and already sees us as glorified.

Could he then change his mind and send us to hell? Obviously God is immutable, which means he can't change his mind. That's the end of that one 13 who saved us whose faith saved us. That's interesting.

Not many people know this one anymore. Charles Spurgeon preached it 150 years ago. And I didn't know that when I saw this started preaching it here. Some people thought I made up something new. But the Prince of Preachers Charles Spurgeon preached the same thing 150 years ago, and that is that we're not saved by Faith in Christ.

We're saved by the faith of Christ and you won't even see that if you don't have a King James Version because all the other Modern English versions don't say it. They don't quote the Greek properly there.

So check it out. We're saved by the faith of Christ. Which means it's a gift from God that the Holy Spirit gives you the day He calls you and saves you and regenerates you when when the Holy Spirit calls you and regenerates you He gives you 33 things and one of them is Jesus's faith.

And by the way that faith can walk on water. All right, so that faith will never stop your own human belief can be here today and gone tomorrow. Depending on whether you're happy with God or not. That's not what saved you.

All right, so that's that Number 14. Let me see if I have I got to the new stuff yet. Let me see where my note is. I Did mark where I was before I left? You know what? I think I just blew right past it.

Well, that's good. Ah, yeah, I did. Okay, when I got to number 11 does God's love for us depend on us. What does agape mean that's new. Okay, that's for today and we know that God's love cannot God's love cannot in God's love it does not depend on anything we do or don't do for him.

Romans 8 Proves it verse 31. What shall we say then to these things if God before us who can be against us? He spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us. How shall he now not with him also freely give us everything?

It sounds good so far. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect the true sheep who can who can judge them? It's God that justifies them and makes them where they're unjudgeable. They're justified.

They're made to be righteous by the blood of Jesus. So who is it that condemns? Well, it's Christ that died. Yeah, rather. It's risen again. Who's even at the right hand of God as our intercessor for us.

He's not going to condemn us. Well, if he's not going to condemn us who can send us to hell. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ. Tribulation distress persecution famine. Not having enough clothes to wear because you got no money.

Peril the sword. What can separate us from the love of God once we're his and we're saved as It is written for thy sake. We're killed all the day long. Some of us sometimes are martyred. Sometimes bad things happen to Christians, but you know what it never separates them from God's love.

Nay, all these things through all these things. We are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Brian persuaded neither death nor life nor angel nor principality no powers nor things present things to come nor height nor depth the cloud.

Nor height nor depth nor other creature any part of creation. None of that is able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. God doesn't love anybody that's not in Christ.

Except lost sheep who aren't quite there yet. He loves them and he tracks them his Holy Spirit tracks him and Finally, he comes to a place where the Holy Spirit says, okay. The father just told me it's your spiritual birthday.

Wake up and your eyes are open your ears are open and your old dead spirit comes alive and the whole life begins right there. In fact at that moment you're living eternal life. You don't have to wait till you die to get it.

You're already in it. Isn't that cool? So there you have it now if God here's the next question if God knew us and predestined us and called us and justified us which means made us as if we never sinned and Already sees us as glorified which means perfect.

Then can he change his mind because if he can't then you if he already sees you as glorified you can't lose it. He already sees you in heaven the father that is we're talking about the father there. Well Romans 8 29 says for whom he did for no like that that started when there's no time.

You do know there was a time when God existed just on his own. It's just the Father Son the Holy Ghost the Trinity lived and there was nothing there was no space. There was no time. There's no stuff. There was just the invisible immutable omnipresent God.

Plus nothing. That's all that existed and love existed already because God is love and that proves the Trinity exists because love has to have An object so you can't have a Hindu God or you can't have an Islamic God where it's just God.

Because he wouldn't have anybody to love. So he couldn't be love he would have to become love. So the fact that God is love you had to have the Son the Father and the Holy Spirit to love each other before stuff Was made in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 or maybe some stuff.

I don't think anything was made before that. Right before anything was made. It was just him. No, no place. No time. He's just now. Did you know that the father still dwells there? He doesn't dwell in time, but he comes into time through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

That's something to contemplate. But you know what before he made any stuff or any time. He foreknew you now the biblical word for no doesn't mean he's aware of you. It means he loved you with affection.

Like Adam knew Eve and she got pregnant. He loved you with affection. He knew you before he made anything now. That's all the sheep that will ever be a sheep. That's all the elect is what the scripture calls them.

So whom he foreknew he also did predestinate. Now, what does that mean? Does that mean he predestinated you on the basis of foreknowledge? Absolutely not. Because and that'll be taught though in theology books everywhere.

They'll say that on the YouTube. Oh, yeah. It's all according in foreknowledge. You looked at and saw he'd be saving elected him. No, it doesn't work that way because the foreknowledge and the predestination both happened before time began.

They both happened before there was a place. So they didn't happen in sequence one before the other it's just it's just like you if it's now. Think about it. If you don't have a future or past you just got now then they happen at the same time.

I have to use that to talk as a man. I don't even talk that it's hard to talk about this stuff, isn't it? It happened it the best way to say it is that God knowing his sheep. Before he made anything before they were born and him.

Predestinating them to be his sheep is like this. It just is. Nothing happened before the other it's just that way. It's God. It's God. Okay. It's like it's not a time thing. Now. What's neat about this thing though is.

That.

It says who he foreknew would be Predestinated to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the first first born Amen among many brethren and then later talks about the born-again experience being adopted into his family.

So it's talking about both salvation of The future Christian that hasn't been born yet and that he would do good works both. It's all built in together. All that was predestined. Now who he predestinated now now you have to come to Genesis 1 1 in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and Stuff is made history goes along till now and your lifetime began and here you are in it.

Here's your beginning. Here's your end. You're on that somewhere and on your spiritual birthday, which the father knew before the foundation of the world He tells the Holy Spirit wake him up. That's the greatest birthday you ever had.

He can't see me. He can't hear my words and understand them at all his spirits there, but it's dead. It's a kernel. It's just dead. He's not even a full human wake him up. And the Holy Spirit always obeys the father and the father only sends him to the ones who he's going to give to his son Jesus as a love gift.

And so that's where you got 33 or more things happen one of them including you got Jesus's love. You've got the faith of Christ you he made you have a desire to repent. He all the 33 things are more and so that happened when he called you.

So now we're in time now. Those who he called Them he justifies that means he made him just as if I'd never sinned. The father that will never see any sin you ever do at that point. Because he took your the Holy Spirit took your sins and went back 2 ,000 years and put him in Jesus his body because the Holy Spirit's not bound by time and Jesus was on the cross and your sins were literally in there and when he was buried died.

He died for your sins and when he was buried your sins were literally in there when he rose again that new man. That's really you doesn't have them. They're gone. They were sent to hell. They were gone like the scapegoat in the Old Testament off into the wilderness never to return with your sins on his head in that picture Jesus.

So that happens next in time and that's a beautiful thing. You are justified. But then it says they're also glorified and look at that. It's past tense from the father's viewpoint. Remember he's now, okay.

He's always now but to him you're already glory. You're already perfect. The father sees you that way. I don't care what you do. If you're a sheep. I don't care what you do. He sees you as perfect now.

Jesus not so he's the one with the stick. He sees everything you do and he will correct it if he needs to he's the Shepherd in time with you. Isn't it interesting how the father the son the Holy Spirit have different functions even though they're the same essence.

They're God. That's how God makes it work. That's just how he is. He didn't have to make it work. He just he's always been that way and In fact, we're creating his image and worth we're tripartite we have a body soul and spirit we're three things but we're one.

All right. So there we have it now Romans 11 29 if it's true that.

God.

Knew you with love. By name and every hair on your head, even though I'm losing some of them. And you all that before he made anything and then when he and then he also predestined you to get saved before he made anything and to do good works by the way to have fruit and then when time started he called you and woke you up and.

Then at that same moment He justified you and made you as if you never seen in God's eyes and then he made you look like you're glorified. We know we're not yet, but God father thinks we are. And if he did all that can God change his mind?

We'll look at Romans 11 29 the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance and the word repent in English comes from a Greek word that means to change your mind. So the gifts and the calling of God are without God's ability to change his mind.