SPEAKER_00: Good Lord help for me to get out of the way this morning and I hope to, with the Lord's help, conclude the doctrines of grace this morning.
SPEAKER_00: The But the thought occurred to me as I was studying through this that I want to this morning give you a very quick summary of the doctrines of grace, but I want to start in John 3.16 for a reason.
SPEAKER_00: We all know that John 3.16 is probably the most familiar verse of any verse in the entire Bible to the general public, whether they be Christian or non-Christian alike.
SPEAKER_00: That is the one verse in the Bible that so many people have heard, whether it's on a sign or a billboard or heard it, you know, on television.
SPEAKER_00: But John 3.16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
SPEAKER_00: Now, that is the verse that most people automatically associate with the gospel, right?
SPEAKER_00: The good news that this is what God did, we were sinful, and Almighty God intervened, and he gave his son, sacrificed his son, and that's how people are saved through the work of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And that is true.
SPEAKER_00: But do you know that the doctrines of grace explain the mechanics of how that works?
SPEAKER_00: Is that not right?
SPEAKER_00: So, what I want to tell you this morning is that these doctrines of grace that you and I have been studying through, what a lot of people don't think about, let's say, outside those that are believers in grace, that this is the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that for a minute.
SPEAKER_00: If the good news is that you and I are sinners, and that God chose and elected, and again, you can, whether they believe God chose or not, that's a reality.
SPEAKER_00: But the point is, is that the good news is that you and I are sinners, right?
SPEAKER_00: And that and that Christ and God chose and intervened, and he died for us, and he redeemed us and he saved us to heaven by his grace.
SPEAKER_00: And that is the essence of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: That is the good news that you and I were unable and God intervened and he saved us when we didn't deserve to be saved.
SPEAKER_00: But what I want you to think about is the fact that the doctrines of grace, these things that people don't want to talk about.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Brother Josh, I don't want to hear about predestination, I don't want to hear about the elect or a limited atonement or things that go by names like that.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what to do with that.
SPEAKER_00: Well, let me tell you what to do with that.
SPEAKER_00: That is the actual mechanics of how the gospel works.
SPEAKER_00: Is that not right?
SPEAKER_00: That is how God loved the world and he gave Christ and how you and I are redeemed.
SPEAKER_00: This is the actual one, two, three of what God did to accomplish that.
SPEAKER_00: So this morning, as we, good Lord Willem, conclude the doctrine of uh the doctrines of grace, and we're going to be looking at the preservation of the saints.
SPEAKER_00: What I want to do very briefly, uh just with one verse or two, is just summarize this gospel.
SPEAKER_00: So we started in the doctrines of grace with total depravity.
SPEAKER_00: And total depravity is just that.
SPEAKER_00: You know, total as in complete, depravity, depraved, sinful.
SPEAKER_00: So that doctrine simply states that mankind in his natural estate is totally sinful.
SPEAKER_00: He is totally corrupt.
SPEAKER_00: And so these doctrines build on themselves.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we look at uh scriptures like Romans chapter 3 to look at total depravity.
SPEAKER_00: In Romans chapter 3, we read that Romans chapter 3 as in verse 10, as it is written, there is none righteous, know not one.
SPEAKER_00: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
SPEAKER_00: They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable.
SPEAKER_00: There is none that doeth good, no not one.
SPEAKER_00: And then he goes on and lists a bunch of other terrible things that we do, that our our our mouth is full of cursing and we're swift to shed blood, and so on and so forth.
SPEAKER_00: But the Bible teaches that man in his natural state is a completely corrupt individual.
SPEAKER_00: That's total depravity.
SPEAKER_00: Unconditional election.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what did God do with that?
SPEAKER_00: What did he do with the depravity of man?
SPEAKER_00: Look at the Gospel of John chapter 17.
SPEAKER_00: John chapter 17.
SPEAKER_00: We read beginning in verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: John chapter 17.
SPEAKER_00: These words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come.
SPEAKER_00: Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.
SPEAKER_00: And this is Christ speaking.
SPEAKER_00: He says, talking to the Father, as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that's Christ, that he Christ should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
SPEAKER_00: See, because we were depraved, Father God had to choose his children.
SPEAKER_00: Father God had to choose a household of faith.
SPEAKER_00: He had to choose those whom he would adopt.
SPEAKER_00: And that's, you know, early on in looking at these doctrines of grace, we talked about two camps.
SPEAKER_00: There's the the camp of the folks that are believers in God's choosing or selecting grace, and the camp that believes that man is the one who chooses God.
SPEAKER_00: We've already established that man is totally corrupt, total depravity, so man can't choose God, so God had to choose man.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus said, as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he, Christ, should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
SPEAKER_00: So Christ said, Father God gave me, or elected and gave to me a group of people to save.
SPEAKER_00: That's unconditional election.
SPEAKER_00: Well, but the thing is, Christ only died for that group.
SPEAKER_00: That's limited atonement.
SPEAKER_00: That the sacrifice of Christ was not spilled in vain, that he didn't shed his blood needlessly.
SPEAKER_00: Every single one whom the shepherd, Christ, was given, he died for those and he redeemed and saved every single one of those without exception.
SPEAKER_00: That's limited atonement.
SPEAKER_00: T-U-L-I, I is irresistible grace.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, Christ went on to say, as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him, and this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou sent.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Well, look at John chapter 6.
SPEAKER_00: We see what irresistible grace is.
SPEAKER_00: In John 6, it tells us, Jesus said in John 6, 37, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.
SPEAKER_00: And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
SPEAKER_00: So when God calls one, one of his little adopted children, they come.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we have a little new puppy at the house, and he's in training mode, and he don't always want to come.
SPEAKER_00: But you I don't, I'm not a dog trainer.
SPEAKER_00: He's doing well, but he's not perfect, neither am I.
SPEAKER_00: But I will tell you this: when a sovereign God calls one of his little children, they come.
SPEAKER_00: Why is that?
SPEAKER_00: Because he's God.
SPEAKER_00: So we've already talked about total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, and irresistible grace.
SPEAKER_00: And now we are to the last point of the tulip doctrine or the doctrines of grace.
SPEAKER_00: It's called preservation of the saints.
SPEAKER_00: And we're going to mainly be in Romans chapter 8 today.
SPEAKER_00: But what I want you to see, brothers and sisters, is that, well, Brother Josh, that's some of that familiar stomping ground for you primitive Baptists, you know, y'all folks that believe in predestination and election.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: But what I want you to see is that this gospel that so many people that are Christians love, that they believe is the John 3.16 is the summation of it.
SPEAKER_00: Man was depraved.
SPEAKER_00: So God had to intervene and choose us because we weren't going to choose him.
SPEAKER_00: Christ chose to die for all the ones that the Father gave him, and he redeemed every single one because he's God.
SPEAKER_00: And then he chose to draw those rebels to himself and overcome their will because their will was corrupt and didn't want anything to do with God.
SPEAKER_00: According to Romans chapter 8, the first part, it says it actually hated God.
SPEAKER_00: And so once God did all of that, born them again, saved them, and now he preserves them where they are guaranteed a home in heaven by his doing.
SPEAKER_00: See, that's the thing about the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ is that it is a finished work.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Is that Christ didn't try to save anybody, he completely did.
SPEAKER_00: And in so doing, that is where the phrase, you know, once saved, always saved.
SPEAKER_00: You know why?
SPEAKER_00: Once a person is saved, they're always saved?
SPEAKER_00: Is because God did the whole complete work.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't do a partial work.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't go, you know, 90% of the way and then let you and I finish the race.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't do that.
SPEAKER_00: That's why the gospel is good news is because God finished the work.
SPEAKER_00: Let's read in Romans chapter 8, talking about the preservation of the saints.
SPEAKER_00: In Romans chapter 8, we begin reading in verse 28.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul writes, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to see a couple things in this verse.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul, first off, says, and we know.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul here, this doctor of the law, and also this born-again believer at this time who's writing this book, he says, and we know.
SPEAKER_00: Well, who knows?
SPEAKER_00: He's an apostle, but he's also a born-again child of God.
SPEAKER_00: He knows because the Bible tells him so, and he uh the Old Testament scriptures at his time, and also what he's writing, but he also knows experientially, because God has saved him personally.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is one of the elect.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is one of God's adopted children by his grace.
SPEAKER_00: And so when Paul says, and we know, Paul is saying, I know with certainty.
SPEAKER_00: This is established, this is a truth.
SPEAKER_00: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
SPEAKER_00: Now I want you to see something.
SPEAKER_00: In this passage of Scripture, Paul does this multiple times: that he makes a statement, and then he turns right around immediately and says the same thing again in a different way.
SPEAKER_00: So in this verse, notice that he says, and we know that all things work together for good.
SPEAKER_00: Notice this to them that love God, to that group of people, to them that love God, and then he says, To them who are the called according to his purpose.
SPEAKER_00: Did y'all know that those two statements are saying the same thing?
SPEAKER_00: In other words, Paul is saying to that group of people that love God, that's a group of people.
SPEAKER_00: And then he says also again to them who are the called according to his purpose.
SPEAKER_00: What I want you to see is that group of people that love God is the same group of people who are called according to his purpose.
SPEAKER_00: So let me say it this way: every person that goes to heaven loves God.
SPEAKER_00: Y'all tell me, is that a true statement?
SPEAKER_00: Every person that goes to heaven loves God.
SPEAKER_00: Is that a true statement?
SPEAKER_00: In other words, even the thief on the cross who only loved God for a few hours, he actually loved the Lord, right?
SPEAKER_00: Even though it was for just a few hours after the Lord intervened on him.
SPEAKER_00: The apostle Paul used to hate Christ and hate God, but he was transformed by God's grace, and then he loved God.
SPEAKER_00: So y'all tell me, is it a true statement that every person that goes to heaven loves God?
SPEAKER_00: Yes, that is a true statement.
SPEAKER_00: How about every person that is called of God loves God?
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm not talking about my gospel call as a pastor.
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about every person that is actually called by God's sovereign grace, every one of those loves God after the call.
SPEAKER_00: Is that not true?
SPEAKER_00: God transforms that person to love him where before they didn't.
SPEAKER_00: So let's read this verse again.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 8, 28.
SPEAKER_00: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, that's a group, to them who are the called according to his person, same group.
SPEAKER_00: So the ones that love God are the same group of folks that are the called.
SPEAKER_00: So the called are the ones who actually love God.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 29.
SPEAKER_00: For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Brother Josh, there's that word predestinate.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Let me ask y'all a question.
SPEAKER_00: Is this a bad verse in the Bible?
SPEAKER_00: Is John 3.16 a bad verse in the Bible?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: We don't get to pick and choose what verses we like more or like well, there are very verses that you and I take personally because God has brought them home to us.
SPEAKER_00: But you and I don't get to pick and choose what is true and isn't true.
SPEAKER_00: Because God's word is truth.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: God's word is truth.
SPEAKER_00: But, brothers and sisters, this is the essence of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Predestination is not a dirty word, it's a wonderful word.
SPEAKER_00: It literally means that where you and I were unable, God had to intervene and save wretches like you and I.
SPEAKER_00: The essence of the gospel or the good news is that when you and I were unable and didn't want to choose Christ, God actually chose us and redeemed us and predestined us and elected us and adopted us.
SPEAKER_00: Those are not bad words or dirty words.
SPEAKER_00: Brothers and sisters, that is the very, that is the very core of our salvation.
SPEAKER_00: That is the very essence of the gospel message.
SPEAKER_00: Is that when man hated God, God loved man and God intervened and predestined and chose and adopted wretches like you and I and said, You're one of my beloved children, even though before you hated me.
SPEAKER_00: That's the essence of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: That's not only good news, that's wonderful news for people like you and I.
SPEAKER_00: For whom he did foreknow.
SPEAKER_00: The word means to choose beforehand.
SPEAKER_00: He also did predestinate.
SPEAKER_00: Now stop right there.
SPEAKER_00: Again, that's the same group of people.
SPEAKER_00: That's the same, so the the group that he did foreknow, he also did predestinate.
SPEAKER_00: Now let me stop right there.
SPEAKER_00: I want to explain something about foreknowledge.
SPEAKER_00: Does God know everything about everybody before it happens?
SPEAKER_00: Whether they be righteous or whether they be wicked.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Did God know all the things that Adolf Hitler was going to do before he did them?
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: I would venture to say with a great amount of certainty that Adolf Hitler was not one of God's children.
SPEAKER_00: He's burning in hell today.
SPEAKER_00: But nevertheless, God foreknew all the things that Adolf Hitler would do.
SPEAKER_00: Just like God foreknew all the things that the Apostle Paul would do.
SPEAKER_00: However, the apostle, God foreknew the apostle Paul in a different way than he foreknew Adolf Hitler.
SPEAKER_00: What do you mean, Brother Josh?
SPEAKER_00: We just read over in John chapter 17, where Jesus says, 17, 2, as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
SPEAKER_00: And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, and the word know here means to know personally.
SPEAKER_00: I would venture to say that his children and his wife know President Trump better than the majority of Americans.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that right?
SPEAKER_00: In other words, you and I know of Donald Trump, but you and I don't know personally Donald Trump.
SPEAKER_00: You and I know about Adolf Hitler or about the Apostle Paul from what you and I read of it.
SPEAKER_00: But if I were to ask you, how well do you know your spouse, or how well do you know your children?
SPEAKER_00: Well, the answer to that is you know them very intimately.
SPEAKER_00: You know them very personally.
SPEAKER_00: You know them well.
SPEAKER_00: Well, the the idea conveyed in John chapter 17 in verse 3, and this is life eternal that they, this was the elect children, might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou sent.
SPEAKER_00: Brothers and sisters, you actually know God and you know Christ personally.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because you are a member of his household.
SPEAKER_00: You are an adopted son or daughter of God.
SPEAKER_00: God has enabled you to know him personally.
SPEAKER_00: While God did foreknow everyone and everything before it ever happened, God chose to foreknow personally all of his elect or adopted children.
SPEAKER_00: So when you go back to Romans chapter 8, when it says, and for whom he did foreknow, God is saying, for all of those adopted children of mine that I have enabled to know me personally as part of my own household and family, for whom he did foreknow that same group he also did predestinate.
SPEAKER_00: Same people.
SPEAKER_00: Again, Paul multiple times in this passage of scripture says one thing and he says the same thing again in another way.
SPEAKER_00: For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate.
SPEAKER_00: In this same group of people, what else did he do?
SPEAKER_00: He did predestinate or decide beforehand to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
SPEAKER_00: Now stop right there.
SPEAKER_00: Brother Joshua, you telling me that Jesus Christ was.
SPEAKER_00: The firstborn among many brethren.
SPEAKER_00: Well, brethren are of a household or of a family.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Christ was born in this world 2,000, you know, some odd years ago.
SPEAKER_00: Well, weren't there saints that lived before him?
SPEAKER_00: Yes, but y'all tell me Abraham said that before Abraham was, I am.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, Jesus said that.
SPEAKER_00: So y'all tell me, did Jesus Christ exist before any other believer in the world?
SPEAKER_00: Yes, he did.
SPEAKER_00: He was the firstborn among many brethren.
SPEAKER_00: My point is this.
SPEAKER_00: This is talking about the household of God.
SPEAKER_00: That Christ is our elder brother.
SPEAKER_00: And that, and God predestined or chose beforehand that all of us to be conformed to the image of his son.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, you and I are supposed to be what?
SPEAKER_00: Like Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Well, aren't you and I like Christ?
SPEAKER_00: And well, Brother Josh, how am I like Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Well, you and I know God personally, do we not?
SPEAKER_00: If I were to ask any of you in this church house today that's a born-again believer, do y'all know God?
SPEAKER_00: Well, Brother Josh, yes, I do know God because not only he was born again to save me, but I know more about him than just mentally knowing him because he pricks my heart, he pricks my soul, I'm drawn to him, I love him, I want to serve him.
SPEAKER_00: Why is that?
SPEAKER_00: It's because he's predestinated you.
SPEAKER_00: He's chos beforehand you to be conformed to the image of his son.
SPEAKER_00: Now you and I do that imperfectly.
SPEAKER_00: Christ did it perfectly, where he loved the Father, he knew the Father, he served the Father, He was the perfect Son of God, right?
SPEAKER_00: The sinless Lamb of God.
SPEAKER_00: You and I are imperfect sons and daughters of God.
SPEAKER_00: I love that song that uh it talks about our sonship.
SPEAKER_00: I can't remember the title offhand, but Lord, I'm unworthy to be called thy son.
SPEAKER_00: I simultaneously feel the fact that, Lord, I'm unworthy to be a recipient of what you've done, but I'm so thankful that I'm a recipient of what you've done.
SPEAKER_00: While he was the firstborn among many brethren, God has made us to be like him where you and I love him.
SPEAKER_00: See, the world doesn't love him.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Brother Josh, why is it that I love him?
SPEAKER_00: Because you're called.
SPEAKER_00: Because everyone who's called loves God, and everybody who loves God is called, and all the called are going to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because he's put you in the household.
SPEAKER_00: Because you're a brother or sister to Christ, however imperfect we may be.
SPEAKER_00: For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren, verse 30.
SPEAKER_00: Moreover.
SPEAKER_00: I love this.
SPEAKER_00: So he's been talking about the predestination and the foreknowledge.
SPEAKER_00: And then he, Paul, now he puts on his lawyer pants.
SPEAKER_00: Now he's going to explain logically what he just got through talking about.
SPEAKER_00: Moreover, let me go into a further legal explanation.
SPEAKER_00: Moreover, and I want you all to see this.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we've been talking about that Paul will say something, and then he'll say it again in another way, or he'll link something to it.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I want you to see here how that everything there in verse 30 is all linked together.
SPEAKER_00: And notice God is the one who's doing the action.
SPEAKER_00: Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, in whom he justified, them he also glorified.
SPEAKER_00: In front of every one of those statements, moreover, whom he did predestinate, there's a them.
SPEAKER_00: The them, I'm sorry, the ones that are predestinated is the same them as he called.
SPEAKER_00: And the ones he predestinated and called is the same them that he justified.
SPEAKER_00: And the ones he predestinated and called and justified is the same them that he glorified.
SPEAKER_00: Every one of those is linked together.
SPEAKER_00: It's talking about the same group of people.
SPEAKER_00: It's talking about the same group of people that was predestined, that was called, that was uh, that was uh justified and that was glorified.
SPEAKER_00: Those all those legal operations happened to the same group of people.
SPEAKER_00: And who did this to them?
SPEAKER_00: He.
SPEAKER_00: God did it to every one of them.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Brother Josh, why did God do that?
SPEAKER_00: That's what he had to do to them to put him in his household.
SPEAKER_00: Because, see, he had to predestinate or choose them because we weren't going to choose him, because we were all totally depraved wretches, you see.
SPEAKER_00: So we would have never chosen him.
SPEAKER_00: Well, and then in the same then, he had to call us by his irresistible grace, and we couldn't tell him no.
SPEAKER_00: He had to literally draw us to Christ and draw us to himself.
SPEAKER_00: And so therefore, he literally overpowered our fallen will with his sovereign will because he's God.
SPEAKER_00: And then, the same ones that he chose and that he called them, he justified.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Josh, how did he do that?
SPEAKER_00: The word just means to declare innocent or to render righteous.
SPEAKER_00: Well, how did he do that in the courtroom of law?
SPEAKER_00: Because every one of us were guilty wretches.
SPEAKER_00: Well, see, that's the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: That's why Christ came as a sinless lamb of God, as our elder brother, and he died on our behalf.
SPEAKER_00: And when God said, okay, well, Christ sacrificed, that's acceptable.
SPEAKER_00: He's pure, he's holy, he's righteous.
SPEAKER_00: Well, then therefore, the holy God who couldn't accept us wretches, now can accept us into his own household and says that Brother Don and Sister Ann and myself and my dad and brother Blake and every one of his children, you are righteous because of what Christ did for you, your elder brother.
SPEAKER_00: Now you are acceptable to me.
SPEAKER_00: And now you and I can be in the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: He justified us in the courtroom.
SPEAKER_00: God put his stamp and said, Christ already paid your debt.
SPEAKER_00: Christian, you fill in your name as the blank.
SPEAKER_00: Actually, God filled it in for you.
SPEAKER_00: But that's how we were justified in the sight of God.
SPEAKER_00: And you and I could not do any of that ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: So then he called and justified, and the same ones, them he also glorified.
SPEAKER_00: We mentioned earlier that uh every person that goes to heaven loves God.
SPEAKER_00: Brothers and sisters, if you're one of the called, if you're one of the elected, if you're one of the justified, you will go to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Not because you're doing good and you're gonna get there on your own merits.
SPEAKER_00: You're going to heaven because God's already done that work, right?
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing that can hinder that work.
SPEAKER_00: See, that brother Josh, you mean I can't lose my salvation?
SPEAKER_00: You mean Satan can't tempt me enough and steal my salvation from me?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: Because, see, if Satan could steal it from you, then that would make Satan more powerful than God who gave it to you.
SPEAKER_00: That would make Satan the ability to overcome the finished work of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Or let's take it a step further.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Brother Josh, I don't believe Satan can steal my salvation, but I believe I can lose my own salvation by my own wretched doings.
SPEAKER_00: Are you greater than God?
SPEAKER_00: Can you rip yourselves out of the hand of a finished work of election and calling and justification and glorification that God has already tied and linked all these works together?
SPEAKER_00: That he's literally irresistibly drawn you by his sovereign grace.
SPEAKER_00: And can you tear yourself out of the hand of God?
SPEAKER_00: No, you are unable to do that.
SPEAKER_00: You're not greater than God, and neither is Satan.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, all that he called and predestined, he also glorified.
SPEAKER_00: And gave you a home in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you that that's the joy of the gospel is that it's irrevocable that you and I can't lose it.
SPEAKER_00: Once saved, always saved.
SPEAKER_00: What we're talking about today is the basis of that, the mechanics of actually how that played out in God's design.
SPEAKER_00: So God did all of that.
SPEAKER_00: And then Paul puts his lawyer pants on in uh verse 31, it says, What shall we say then to these things?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I give you the floor.
SPEAKER_00: Lawyers, give me your best shot.
SPEAKER_00: What can be done to revoke this?
SPEAKER_00: What can be done to take this away?
SPEAKER_00: Satan, throw your best demonic lawyer at me.
SPEAKER_00: Human being, throw your best terrible argument at this.
SPEAKER_00: What shall we say to these things?
SPEAKER_00: This is what Paul says, very simply.
SPEAKER_00: If God be for us, who can be against us?
SPEAKER_00: By the way, did y'all know that not only is Jesus our Savior and our Redeemer and our elder brother and our champion, the Bible also says that he is our advocate with the Father, that he's your actual lawyer.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I don't know of a better lawyer.
SPEAKER_00: And oh, by the way, he personally knows the judge.
SPEAKER_00: And he sits on the right hand of the judge.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, our lawyer also already paid for our crimes.
SPEAKER_00: So when he comes in the courtroom, Jesus can just stroll in there and say, Father, it's all good.
SPEAKER_00: I've already served the prison sentence.
SPEAKER_00: I've already paid the debt for X number of little adopted child.
SPEAKER_00: Their name, I it, their debt's already paid.
SPEAKER_00: And the father says, You're right, son.
SPEAKER_00: That little child of mine, you fom I gave you their name, and you redeem them, and their debt is paid, and they are justified in my sight.
SPEAKER_00: They're able to go to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: What shall we say then of these things?
SPEAKER_00: If God be for us, who can be against us?
SPEAKER_00: Nobody.
SPEAKER_00: Not even yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 32.
SPEAKER_00: I love this.
SPEAKER_00: He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
SPEAKER_00: Brother Sammy years ago pointed out, and I know I've mentioned this, that God did not go 99% of the way in salvation and give us everything except for believing faith or trust, and then fall short and said, It's up to you, little depraved human being, to choose God, and then when you do, then you are redeemed.
SPEAKER_00: That would be a terrible plan.
SPEAKER_00: Because then no single human being in the history of the world would have ever been saved.
SPEAKER_00: Not one.
SPEAKER_00: God didn't leave that work up to us.
SPEAKER_00: How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
SPEAKER_00: He literally called and gave us the faith to believe.
SPEAKER_00: It is the faith of Jesus Christ, not in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He gave us the faith to believe in him.
SPEAKER_00: He as he said earlier, uh he predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his son, and his son does what?
SPEAKER_00: His son knows the Father.
SPEAKER_00: You and I have been made to know God intimately, personally by God's grace.
SPEAKER_00: Thank the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: I want to stop right there for a minute, and I want to turn your attention to a couple other scriptures, and then we're gonna wrap this up and close.
SPEAKER_00: But talking about God's uh preservation, I want to turn your attention to 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 18.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna very quickly hit these.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 18.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to see the language.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Timothy 4, 18 reads, and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory forever and ever.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Brother Josh, I believe the Lord saved me a long time ago.
SPEAKER_00: I just don't know if I can hold the line to be able to get to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: I think I might just fall away by my own failings before then.
SPEAKER_00: Well, 2 Timothy 4.18 speaks of God's preservation, and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: If y'all remember, we just got through reading that those that were called and uh justified are the same ones that are glorified, right?
SPEAKER_00: So God is gonna keep us until the day of glorification.
SPEAKER_00: He's not gonna partially finish the work, he's already finished it.
SPEAKER_00: So you and I are preserved unto his heavenly kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Look at uh go to uh the book of Jude, only one chapter.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna say Jude verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: Jude chapter 1, verse 1, but there's only one chapter.
SPEAKER_00: Jude verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ and called.
SPEAKER_00: Here's an example of Jude, who's doing the same thing that Paul is doing, and he's saying one thing, and he's saying the same thing again and again.
SPEAKER_00: So look at the verse.
SPEAKER_00: Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James, to them that are sanctified to them that are sanctified by God.
SPEAKER_00: The word sanctified means to be made holy or to be purified by God, to that group that are made holy by God, the Father, are the same group, and they are preserved in Jesus Christ, and this is the same group that is what?
SPEAKER_00: That is also called.
SPEAKER_00: Well, this goes right back to Romans chapter 8.
SPEAKER_00: Those whom he predestinated, and the also called, them he called, then he also justified, them he justified, then he also glorified.
SPEAKER_00: All of these things work together.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Brother Josh, that was that introductory verse that you gave us that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, you are understanding that all of these operations or mechanics of the gospel is God working together, that he accomplished the work that he set out to do, and it is sealed by the finished work of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Let's get one more verse.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 23.
SPEAKER_00: We read, and the very God of peace sanctify, make you holy, you holy or completely, and I pray your holy your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That was Paul's prayer for the Thessalonians, and it was guaranteed to come about.
SPEAKER_00: Now, let's go back to Romans chapter 8, and we're going to close.
SPEAKER_00: So in Romans chapter 8, we're going to pick up in verse 33.
SPEAKER_00: Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
SPEAKER_00: In other words, what other uh prosecuting lawyer from Satan or ourselves is going to lay something to our charge that Christ's finished work has not overcome.
SPEAKER_00: It goes on to say it is God that justifieth.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, Paul is literally saying, there is nothing or no one or no thing after you have been born again and saved that anyone can hold up to you to basically keep you out of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: That is impossible.
SPEAKER_00: You and I are preserved in Christ by his work.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 34.
SPEAKER_00: Who is he that condemneth?
SPEAKER_00: Question mark.
SPEAKER_00: It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, I love that.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, Christ did die, but it's even more important that he rose.
SPEAKER_00: So who is he that condemneth?
SPEAKER_00: It is Christ that died, yea, rather, or more importantly, that he rose again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
SPEAKER_00: And then Paul in closing says these things.
SPEAKER_00: Paul said, Now that I've told you all of this, all of what God has done, all of what Christ has done, who's going to lay anything against you?
SPEAKER_00: You know, so verse 35, who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Question mark.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, brothers and sisters, what can tear you away from your eternal salvation in heaven?
SPEAKER_00: That is the question.
SPEAKER_00: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
SPEAKER_00: What person, what thing, what sin, what action, what doing will be able to tear us away from the love of Christ?
SPEAKER_00: And then Paul lists these things.
SPEAKER_00: Shall tribulation, that is uh external tribulation, or distress, in the original language, that is internal.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, can your anxiety and can your overwhelming uh fear tear you away from God?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: Or persecution from without?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: That's persecuted by other wicked folks who disagree with you.
SPEAKER_00: Or famine, when you're literally starving to death, or naked, you don't have clothes enough.
SPEAKER_00: Or peril or sword, can can the magistrates, can the king force you to be uh uh uh separated from Christ?
SPEAKER_00: No, that that is impossible.
SPEAKER_00: As it is written, verse 36 for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, Paul is literally saying, you know what, here on this earth, you and I are gonna die.
SPEAKER_00: And people actually will try to kill us.
SPEAKER_00: But you know what?
SPEAKER_00: We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
SPEAKER_00: Death is a minor thing.
SPEAKER_00: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
SPEAKER_00: You know, the people of the world think death is the end-all-be-all.
SPEAKER_00: It's not.
SPEAKER_00: Death is just a thing.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says in verse 37, nay, in all these things, he doesn't say we are conquerors.
SPEAKER_00: He says we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul says, for I am persuaded.
SPEAKER_00: You know what that means?
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, as a lawyer, as a doctor of the law, he says, I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, Satan was an angel, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: The demons are fallen angels, nor principalities, that's all the governments of the world, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Josh, I just fear what's going to happen in our government or in my house or with my body.
SPEAKER_00: I might get cancer, you know, 10 years, 20 years from now.
SPEAKER_00: I just don't know what's going to happen.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter if it's happening now or it happens in the future, it's not going to tear you away from God.
SPEAKER_00: Nor height nor depth.
SPEAKER_00: Uh have people of the earth like King Solomon been risen to great heights of wealth and power?
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Did he lose his salvation because he became so wealthy?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: What about the the most meager beggar who was stricken with sores and who begged at the gate who died and went to heaven?
SPEAKER_00: Did his sores and his poor earthly means did that tear him away from God, his lowly estate?
SPEAKER_00: No, he didn't lose his salvation.
SPEAKER_00: King Solomon didn't lose his salvation.
SPEAKER_00: And the beggar Lazarus didn't lose his salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Neither because of their height nor because of their lowliness.
SPEAKER_00: Nor any other creature.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, that includes you.
SPEAKER_00: Shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Do y'all know?
SPEAKER_00: You know what is so beautiful about this pastor of scripture?
SPEAKER_00: Is that we just read the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We just read the mechanics of how God worked out the good news of mine and your salvation.
SPEAKER_00: You understand?
SPEAKER_00: God took a corrupt individual who couldn't save himself.
SPEAKER_00: And God chose him, elected him, adopted him, gave him to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Christ died for him.
SPEAKER_00: And then the Father drew him to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And then after that, then God says, You're mine.
SPEAKER_00: You're one of my children.
SPEAKER_00: Now you get to know me intimately, personally, and the world doesn't have a clue who I am.
SPEAKER_00: The world might know about me, and the world is misunderstood.
SPEAKER_00: You remember in Matthew chapter 16 when Jesus asked the apostles, whom the men say that I am?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, well, you're John the Baptist, come back, you're one of the apostles.
SPEAKER_00: The world I know who Christ is.
SPEAKER_00: And the world I know who God is.
SPEAKER_00: They're ignorant, but you're not ignorant.
SPEAKER_00: Because you have been made to be conform to the image of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You are like Christ, your elder brother.
SPEAKER_00: You know God.
SPEAKER_00: Now you and I know him imperfectly, but we know him.
SPEAKER_00: We're part of his house.
SPEAKER_00: And then after all of that, he preserved us.
SPEAKER_00: What shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Y'all tell me what?
SPEAKER_00: Nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Not you, not Satan, not the world, not a government, not death, not life, not height, nor death, nor any other creature or thing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
SPEAKER_00: That is the essence of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: That is the good news.
SPEAKER_00: That this is how God did it.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what he did.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what that does?
SPEAKER_00: That frees us up to serve God all the days of our life.
SPEAKER_00: Look what God did for you and me.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what he did and praise him for what he did.
SPEAKER_00: He accomplished.
SPEAKER_00: He finished.
SPEAKER_00: He completed.
SPEAKER_00: He sealed.
SPEAKER_00: He preserves.
SPEAKER_00: And that is why you and I have hope.
SPEAKER_00: That is why you and I have joy.
SPEAKER_00: That is why you and I have home in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: That is why you and I should serve him and follow him all the days of our life.
SPEAKER_00: Not because we fear him, but because we love him so much.
SPEAKER_00: And look at what he's done for me.
SPEAKER_00: And I owe him my whole life.
SPEAKER_00: If I serve God every minute of every hour of every day for my entire life, I would not serve him enough.
SPEAKER_00: Is that not right?
SPEAKER_00: Because he deserves that.
SPEAKER_00: You and I are compelled not by fear, but by love, and that is the essence of the gospel explained.
SPEAKER_00: The doctrines of grace.
SPEAKER_00: It just simply is that God took depraved men, he chose them himself, and he saved them.
SPEAKER_00: He born them again to know him, and now they are preserved forever in him.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this side of heaven, you and I are going to fall, you and I are going to fail, you and I are going to stumble, and we see an accounting of that all throughout the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: But you and I are called to walk with him every day and glorify him every day.
SPEAKER_00: And that is you and I choosing to persevere here and now, to glorify him.
SPEAKER_00: And may God give us strength to do that better.
SPEAKER_00: But he has already finished the work of our salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Once saved, always saved.
SPEAKER_00: To God be the glory.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to ask Brother Don if he would come up and help us close in a word of song.
SPEAKER_00: Brothers and sisters, y'all bear with me one more second.
SPEAKER_00: I neglected to do this.
SPEAKER_00: Brother Moles handed me a letter right before church, and I've neglected to read this.
SPEAKER_00: We got an 11th letter from Providence Printed Baptist Church written on March 13, 2026.
SPEAKER_00: Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We pray you are all doing well and having services blessed to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Providence Printed Baptist Church, after much prayer and seeking guidance of our gracious Heavenly Father, unanimously voted in conference on March 8, 2026 to withdraw from the Good Hope Association.
SPEAKER_00: It is our sincere desire to follow the Lord's will in this matter for Providence Church.
SPEAKER_00: We give thanks for the great blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us in the many years of sweet worship and fellowship we have enjoyed in the Good Hope Association.
SPEAKER_00: We pray the Lord's continued rich blessings upon you and all of our brothers and sisters as we seek to follow the path and truth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It is our sincere desire to have continued fellowship with our brethren of like faith and order in the days and years ahead.
SPEAKER_00: We will announce the meetings held at Providence Church and pray our brethren and sisters will feel led to worship and fellowship with us.
SPEAKER_00: Grace be to you and mercy and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ the Son, and of the Father in truth, in love, 2 John 1 3.
SPEAKER_00: In the precious love of Christ, Pastor Elder Mark Corals, Church Clerk, Brother Jason Parker.
SPEAKER_00: So, Brother Moles, our clerk, had received that letter this week and just wanted to pass that information along to y'all.
SPEAKER_00: And again, I'm going to ask Brother Don if you would come and help us close in a word of song.
SPEAKER_00: The church doors are always open if you desire to unite with a membership of our church.