John MacArthur : The True Gospel

and uh to see them walking in the truth and others following in the truth is is um is what energizes me and makes me grateful i live for the truth i mean it's a simple thing if you ask me what my my view of life is i just live for the truth it's all about the truth it's about knowing the truth loving the truth preaching the truth uh every way possible writing the truth heralding the truth raising up men who are devoted to the truth the most important thing in the world is the truth of god divine truth is the most important commodity in the world it's in scarce supply sad to say i was sharing with our elder board on thursday night that just generally speaking the church i'm talking about the church let's say the evangelical church is a is ignorant of the truth they're ignorant of sound doctrine and the reason the church is generally ignorant of sound doctrine is because pastors are also generally ignorant of sound doctrine there doesn't seem to be the premium on the truth that there should be people are more interested in style more interested in methodology more interested in technique and all of that than they are in the truth i just came back from a very interesting kind of historic trip through scotland and i was reminded again when i was there seeing all the things i saw and going back over scottish doctrinal history history of the church how if you go back into the 17th century 16th century all theologians were pastors all theologians were pastors the theologians were in the church if you were a pastor you were a theologian you were you were an expert in the word of god they knew hebrew they knew greek they knew theology they could read latin they could write in their own language as well as in latin they thought deeply about spiritual matters and about doctrine after the enlightenment when the church came under assault and under attack the the church was being criticized by those who called themselves scholastics there was a great divorce and scholarship removed itself from the church ended up in the universities and seminaries the ivory towers the legacy of that is that now we have this world called academia where the scholars and the intellectuals and the theologians are and pastors have been separated from serious theology serious doctrine it's great tragedy it's a historic reality that several hundred years ago scholarship left the church or began to leave the church and now you don't even think of a pastor as a serious theologian and that is indeed tragic because that trickles down to the ignorance of the people pastors have become brokers of somebody else's theology they become middle managers who who are more concerned with uh methodologies and ideas entrepreneurial schemes and they are with theology sound doctrine i have been given an assignment by steve and i'm grateful for it to speak to you on one of the great doctrines of of scripture the perseverance of the saints and uh this is the foundation of all that is steadfast in our christian lives nothing would be steadfast if we didn't have a salvation that was steadfast if this could change then everything changes but if salvation cannot change and if it is steadfast then everything is built on that foundation the year was 1644. the place was westminster abbey in london and the room was called the jerusalem room the greatest theological minds and biblical scholars in england gathered together they were all pastors the famous puritans were there gathered with lords and commoners to spend five years of intense study and discussion to produce a statement of sound doctrine a statement that was true to the bible and true to the gospel they were led in those five years by a hundred men who were called divines because they they interacted with that which was divine the word of god there were names like thomas goodwin and james usher and j.b lightfoot and samuel rutherford william twist and jeremiah burroughs five years later by 1649 they had completed what became the most important christian creed called the westminster confession of faith in that creed there is a statement on the security of salvation they accurately referred to it as the perseverance of the saints in a brief and unambiguous part of that confession they wrote this they whom god has accepted in his beloved son effectually called and sanctified by his spirit can neither totally nor finally fall away from a state of grace but shall certainly persevere therein to the end and be eternally saved end quote one of the great statements of the westminster confession and an accurate reflection of what scripture teaches scripture is full of promises regarding the eternality of salvation or the perseverance of the saints john 5 24 truly truly i say to you he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment but is passed out of death into life or even the familiar john 3 16 and 18 for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life he who believes in him is not judged or john 6 all that the father gives to me will come to me said our lord and i will lose none of them but raise him up on the last day or john 10 no one is able to pluck them out of my hand or my father's hand there are many more such testimonies that you would be familiar with the apostle paul writes unmistakable words at the end of first thessalonians when he says now may the god of peace himself sanctify you entirely and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our lord jesus christ faithful is he who calls you he also will bring it to pass or the words of the apostle paul in first corinthians chapter one and verse seven so that you are not lacking in any gift awaiting eagerly the revelation of our lord jesus christ who will also confirm you to the end blameless in the day of our lord jesus christ god is faithful through whom you were called into fellowship with his son jesus christ is lord the one who called you will bring you to the end that's what those passages are saying or the familiar words that conclude the epistle of jude now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and make you stand in the presence of his glory blameless with great joy to the only god our savior through jesus christ our lord be glory majesty dominion and authority before all time now and forevermore amen the god who called you will bring you to glory that's what all of those passages are saying or the words of our lord jesus in the gospel of john the water that i give if you drink you will never thirst so the westminster divines recognized these and many other passages like them and they recognized that the bible promises a salvation that is steadfast that can not fail that cannot fail it doesn't mean that christians will not fail even the apostle paul looks at himself and says o wretched man that i am who will deliver me from the body of this death. it doesn't mean that christians do not fail it does not mean that christians do not fail in serious ways fail in their obedience fail in the pursuit of virtue fail in loving as they should and serving as they should and obeying as they should so the westminster divines knew that and they then wrote this nevertheless believers may through the temptations of satan and of the world the prevalency of corruption remaining in them and the neglect of their means of preservation fall into grievous sins and for a time continue therein whereby they incur god's displeasure and grieve his holy spirit come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts have their hearts hardened and their consciences wounded hurt and scandalize others and bring temporal judgments upon themselves end quote in other words perseverance doesn't mean perfection perseverance doesn't mean sinlessness we often refer to the perseverance of our eternal life as eternal security and it is an eternal security but that is not how it is presented in scripture it is more accurate to say the perseverance of the saints than it is to talk about eternal security eternal security something outside of us perseverance of the saints is something that is a part of us to bring it down to a passage in john chapter 8 our lord said whoever continues in my word is a real disciple that's continuation that's perseverance and that's how the bible defines our eternal life it is a persevering life to speak of the security of the believer is is not wrong in itself but the other expression is more careful and more accurate it is not true that someone is secure no matter how much he may fall into sin and unfaithfulness it is not true that someone is secure if he turns to deny christ a believer may sin a believer will sin a believer may sin seriously a believer may sin repeatedly but he will not abandon himself to sin he will not come under the dominion of sin he will not lose faith in the lord jesus christ he will not become a denier of the gospel and of christ he will not become an unbeliever nor will a true believer shun holiness and fully embrace sin that's impossible first john 3 10 says it cannot do that because the seed of god remains in him a true believer will not fail to love the lord may not love the lord as he should but he will not fail to love the lord a true believer will not fail to love others he may not love others as he should but he will not fail to love others what about that person who professes to be a christian turns away walks away denies christ denies the gospel shows no love for the lord no love for the believers no love for the church no love for the word of god the bible clearly explains that in first john 2 19. they went out from us because they never were of us if they had been of us they would have continued with us but they went out from us that it might be made manifest they never were of us if that happens then that person never was a true believer and we shouldn't be surprised by that because our lord said in matthew 13 that the the wheat would be over sown by tares that would be in large measure indistinguishable and couldn't even be separated until the judgment when the angels of god are sent to separate any idea of salvation that leaves out security is a distortion of the truth but any idea of security that leaves out perseverance is also a distortion of the truth you are not secure if you do not persevere perseverance is the evidence of transformation i've written books truth war ashamed of the gospel the jesus you can't ignore trying to communicate to the evangelical world that people who turn their back on the truth and walk away never were believers because true salvation causes people to receive a life from god that cannot die and so it is manifest in perseverance it isn't really about us let me be very simple if i could lose my salvation if it were possible i would lose it did you hear that if it were possible to lose my salvation i would lose it it is impossible for me to reach up from my depravity and lay claim to salvation on my own that is a work of the holy spirit right i can't save myself neither can i keep myself saved this the same human inability that prevents me from being saved apart from divine intervention prevents me from being secure apart from divine intervention so i'll say it again if i could lose my salvation i would and so would you so would you i told the people at grace church last sunday that there is a survey that was recently done by the ligonier folks and lifeway the southern baptist book division on what what they concluded was the biggest heresy in america the biggest heresy in america single most dominating heresy in america they did this survey and just to give you the sum of it the conclusion was that the biggest heresy in america is that people are basically good seventy percent of the people surveyed by ligonier and lifeway said people are they do bad things but they're basically good that people have in themselves the power on their own to turn to god when they try to turn to god and do good god meets them halfway and does the rest that that is a complete misunderstanding of human depravity to make it simple all your righteousness is what filthy rags we are both unable and unwilling to be saved or to keep ourself ourselves saved the only way we can be saved is by the power of god reaching into the darkness and god who said let there be light has to say to our hearts let there be light so that the light of the glory of the gospel of god shining in the face of jesus christ can be manifest in us people say sometimes to me why are you a calvinist and and i say it's pretty simple pretty simple you either believe that people in their fallen civil condition can choose salvation reach up to god on their own or they can't if you believe they can then you have a problem because there's an unrighteous no not one there's none that seeks after god because everybody in the human race is dead in trespasses and sin blinded by their own sin double blinded by satan hopeless helpless alienated from the life of god and in that condition there is nothing in them there is no faculty in them to reach up to god so if salvation can only occur when god reaches down you have now established the foundation of reformed theology it's a work of god all the rest becomes consequential so i say again only god can save us nicodemus says to jesus uh how how does this work john 3 how can a man be born again he's talking metaphorically he gets it how can this happen and jesus didn't say to him oh pray this prayer jesus said to him the spirit blows where he wills when he wills upon whom he wills so even jesus was a calvinist this is a mighty work of the holy spirit so the question about perseverance is what kind of salvation is this and if it is life that he gives us and it is eternal life that he gives us then we now possess something that can never die it never was about me i didn't write my name in god's book he wrote it before the foundation of the world i didn't pull myself up by my own ingenuity and my own cleverness and my own wisdom by his power are we in christ so that no man can boast he picked me up out of my darkness and blindness and gave me life and the life that he gave me perseveres it is eternal life there are a lot of texts that we could look at and think about in this regard but i want to pick out one turn in your bible if you will to first peter chapter one first peter chapter one since i didn't start when i was supposed to i don't have to finish when i was supposed to is that how it works steve you know i don't want to preach a short sermon because that'll make it hard for steve in the future because i know he preaches a long one first peter chapter 1 verses 3 through 9 blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power of god through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time in this you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while if necessary you've been distressed by various trials so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable even though tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of jesus christ and though you have not seen him you love him and though you do not see him now but believe in him you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls just reading that is an awe-inspiring experience amazing experience now this is written by peter this is written by peter he is the right person to write about perseverance wouldn't you think if any new testament person was ever prone to failure it was peter it was peter he is the man who wrote these words and personally experienced the security of his salvation the perseverance of eternal life in him in fact based upon the gospel record we would say that peter was more like judas than anybody else in fact you wouldn't have been able to tell them apart until the end peter was impetuous erratic selfish vacillating weak cowardly hot-headed selfish on several occasions he invited strong rebukes from the lord none more severe than the lord's rebuke in matthew 16 23 get behind me satan he said about jesus judas one of you is a devil but he called peter satan and oh by the way that low point to be called satan occurred almost immediately after the high point of peter's experience when he said you are the christ the son of the living god and jesus said flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you but my father in heaven one moment he speaks from god the next moment he speaks from satan peter is proof that a true believer can stumble but not fall because he has been given an eternal life and that life principle that is eternal powers through everything with all his weaknesses he never fell judas did the criteria then by which a true believer is distinguished is not a past event it is not a past prayer it is not walking an aisle it is not making a profession it is not being baptized it is not serving in the church or attending the church the criteria by which a true believer is distinguished is the features that belong to eternal life continue to be manifest the features that belong the elements that belong the characteristics that belong to eternal life continue to be manifest in the anticipation of peter's worst failure and he had many but he had one night that was really disastrous in anticipation of that in luke chapter 22 the night that jesus was betrayed our lord gave peter insight into the behind the battle for peter's own soul now listen when i say you are given an eternal life that powers through everything and brings you to final glory that's the perseverance of the saints i want to say that that's not automatic that happens because the trinity is engaged in sustaining that life in luke 22 verse 31 jesus says simon simon he called him by his old name because he was acting like his old self simon simon satan's demanded permission to sift you like wheat satan demanded permission from the lord to go after peter and sift him like wheat do you know any other occasion in the bible where that happened job paul who was given a messenger from satan to buffet him to humble him there are times when the lord allows satan to go after his children why to prove that salvation cannot be broken he wants permission to sift you like well i would have said well you said no right lord told him no no no no the lord said i told him yes absolutely and here's the solution verse 32 but i have prayed for you that your faith may not fail do you ever hear about the intercession of christ there is an example of it what does it mean it means that satan can come at us with everything he's got and the lord is praying for us that our faith will not fail and the lord prays according to the will of the father and his prayers are always answered right romans chapter 8 says the holy spirit makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered and always prays according to the will of the father so you have christ in heaven praying that your faith will not fail you have the spirit in you praying that your faith will not fail and your faith itself is an eternal kind of life and under the power of the father who gave you that life and the spirit who prays for you and the son who prays for you that life is sustained to glory

Channel: Walking In Truth Ministry

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Keywords: Christ, Jesus, Bible, God, Doctrine, Theology, Bible Study, New Testament, Old Testament, john macarthur sermons, John MacArthur sermon, John MacArthur preaching, Preaching, expository preaching, gospel of Jesus, reformed, reformed theology, calvinist, calvinist theology, tulip, reformed soteriology, true salvation, predestination, depravity of man, election, election in salvation, salvation, biblical salvation, aspostle Peter, perseverance, saints, John 3, Matthew, Luke, christian

Id: RZ_IfFyF_wk

Length: 27min 26sec (1646 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 24 2020