Love Worth Finding

Guest (Male): Salvation isn't just a blank slate. Here's Adrian Rogers.

Adrian Rogers: When you get saved, you don't just get a fresh start. God doesn't say, "Well, I'm going to make the down payment and you have to keep up the monthly installments. If you can just keep on making deposits on your good account, then maybe you can get to heaven." Oh no.

Listen, he paid it all the way through. It is done. I mean, I am made perfect forever in God's sight. I didn't get a fresh start, friend. I got a new nature.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring the biblical teaching of pastor and author Adrian Rogers. Pastor Rogers said when a Christian knows that his future is secure, he can concentrate on the present. This is why John chapter 10 is fundamental to the eternal security of every believer.

In part one of today's message, we learned that God promised us eternal security in scripture and that he who first began a good work in us will complete what he has begun. He has predetermined our destiny and perfects us through sanctification. If you have your Bible, turn to John chapter 10. We'll begin in verse 27 as Adrian Rogers reveals the final reasons why and how you can be sure you are eternally secure.

Adrian Rogers: Now I want to talk to you today about this subject: how you can know that you are eternally secure. Listen to the scripture, God's word. John chapter 10, verse 27. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand."

Now, we're not talking about something that is incidental. We're talking about something that is fundamental when we're talking about the eternal security of the believer: how you can know that you are eternally secure. It is necessary for your spiritual health. But I'll tell you another reason why it is so important that you understand this. It's important if you're going to be a productive, fruit-bearing Christian. When you know that your future is secure, then you can concentrate on the present.

I'll tell you another reason why what I'm talking about today is very, very important: not only for your spiritual health and your spiritual productivity, but to help you in evangelism and in soul winning. Do you know why a good number of people never get saved? Very frankly, they're afraid they'll not be able to hold out. Oh, if we could only teach people what the Bible has to say about the fact that the God who saves you is the God who secures you. He is the God that keeps you.

He has saved me and kept me, and I can tell you truly that the God who saved me is the God who will save you, and the God who has kept me is the God that will keep you. Now, turn to the book of Hebrews chapter 10 and look with me in verse 14. What a wonderful verse this is. I love this one. It may be my favorite of all of these verses. Hebrews 10, verse 14: "For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." By one offering, he, Jesus, hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.

Now, what is that one offering? His precious blood, poured out on Calvary's cross. That one offering makes you perfect forever. "For by one offering he hath perfected" for how long? Forever. Learn this about salvation: when you get saved, you don't just get a fresh start. God doesn't say, "Well, I'm going to make the down payment and you have to keep up the monthly installments." Now, that's the way a lot of people believe salvation is. They believe that God just simply says, "All right, here's a fresh start. I'm going to forgive your past, and I'm going to give you a fresh start.

Here, I've made a down payment for you, and if you can keep up the monthly installments, if you can just keep on making deposits on your good account, then maybe you can get to heaven." Oh no. Listen, he paid it all the way through. "For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." It is done. I mean, I am made perfect forever in God's sight. I didn't get a fresh start, friend. I got a new nature. Now, notice this: by one offering he has perfected forever.

I want to give you a challenge. Find anywhere in the Bible where anybody was ever saved twice. You can't do it. Do you know why? Because it's impossible to be saved twice. Nowhere in the Bible will you ever find where anybody is ever saved twice. These people who believe you can get saved and lose your salvation, they believe that you must be born again and again and again and again. They believe that you keep on getting saved. But no. By one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.

Did you know in order for you to be saved twice, Jesus would have to die twice? I mean, when you got saved, you got a ticket marked good for one salvation only. You are perfected forever. Jesus is never going back to that cross. He's never going to die again. For by one offering, we are perfected forever. And so, perfection—where you say, "But wait a minute, you're not perfect, Adrian. I know I'm not perfect." Oh, that is true. That is true. In our flesh, we are not perfect.

What are we talking about here? Somebody says, "What if you get saved and then you sin again?" Did I hear you say "what if"? No, you see, we can disobey God, and if we do, he carries us to the woodshed. "For whom the Lord loves, he chastens," and we'll talk more about that in another message. But let me give you some scripture here that talks about that perfection. Now, I want you to watch this very carefully. It's found in Romans chapter 4, and it's very important that you look at this.

Romans chapter 4, beginning in verse 5: "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." You're not saved by doing good works. People who believe you can lose your salvation believe, many of them, that you lose it because your good works are not enough. "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works."

Isn't that wonderful? Do you know what the word "impute" means? It means to put that on your account. When you go to the store and you want to charge something, if you want to have a little fun with the clerk, don't say "charge it," just say "impute it." Means the same thing. God imputes or puts righteousness on your account without works. Not one scintilla of an iota of good things did you do in order to get saved. Now, so that's a blessing. Yes, verse 6.

But now look in verse 7: "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven." That's a blessing. Hallelujah! Every stain, every blemish, every blot, every blur is washed cleaner, whiter than snow. It is forgiven. "And whose sins are covered." What does that mean? Not only does he forgive it, he won't bring it up again. It is gone, buried in the grave of God's forgetfulness. Because we uncovered it, God covered it. Because we confessed it, God forgave it. All right, now you say, "Could it get any better than that?"

Yes, it does get better than that. Look in verse 8: "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." Oh, hallelujah! Glory to God! Yes, blessed is the man to whom God imputes righteousness. Yes, blessed is the man forgiven. Yes, blessed is the man whose sin is covered. Hallelujah! But blessed is the man to whom God will not impute sin. You see, one half of one sin would send me to hell forever. I mean, I wouldn't trust—you've heard me say this many times—the best 15 minutes I ever lived to get me to heaven.

But blessed is the man to whom God will not impute sin. Why? Why? "For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." Just put down perfection. All right, now let me give you the next "p," and it is position. Position. You are already positioned in the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 17. I love this. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Now, there's the old creation—that's Adam and his children. There's the new creation—that's Jesus and his children. Everybody is either in Adam, the old creation, or they're in Christ, the new creation. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation." I am in the Lord Jesus Christ. What pertains to Jesus pertains to me. I'll lose my relationship with God the Father when Jesus Christ loses his because I am in Christ. You see, what is true of Christ is true of me because I am in Christ.

I am not Christ, but I am in Christ. I'm a part of his body. Somebody says, "What if you slip out of his hand?" Friend, I'm one of his fingers. I am in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, it's illustrated in the Bible by Noah's Ark. Peter tells us that Noah's Ark is a picture of our salvation. Noah's Ark is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is more than just the story of a great ship. Now, remember how Noah was saved. Let's see how good you are on your Bible history.

God said to Noah, "Noah, I'm going to destroy the world with a flood, but I don't want you to perish, Noah, and I don't want Mrs. Noah to perish, and I don't want Ham and Shem and Japheth to perish, and I don't want their wives to perish." All eight of you need to be saved. So Noah, here's what to do: put eight pegs on the outside of the Ark, drive them in good and secure. When it starts to rain, get a stepladder, get up there and get hold of those pegs, Noah, and hold on as best you can.

And if you can hold on till the water goes down, Noah, you'll be saved. Is that the way it happened? Please don't say yes. Is that the way it happened? No, that's not the way it happened. That's the way some people think salvation is. Oh, they believe that Jesus is like the Ark, but rather than being on the inside, they're on the outside holding on. Have you ever been in a prayer meeting where anybody would say something like this: "You folks please pray for me, I'll hold out faithful to the end. Please pray for me, I'll hold out faithful to the end."

I can see Noah holding on to that slimy peg saying, "Mrs. Noah, Mrs. Noah, please pray for me. I'll hold out faithful to the end." You know Noah never would have made it. Not a one of them would ever have made it. What happened? Listen, God brought them in the Ark. "If any man be in Christ." God brought them in the Ark. In Genesis chapter 7 and verse 1, the Bible says, "And God said to Noah and his family, come thou into the ark." Come in. Now, when God said "come in," that meant that God was inside.

Now, if I'm in a room and I say "come in," I'm inside. If I am in a place and I say "go in," that means you go where I'm not. But if I say "come in," that means you come where I am. God said in Genesis 7:1, "Come into the ark." That means that God was in that Ark, and Noah was in that Ark. And then the Bible says that God shut the door. Now, why did God shut the door? To shut the water out and to shut Noah in. To shut the water out and to shut Noah in.

God shut the door. It wasn't Noah that shut the door. It was God that shut the door. There's no doorknob on the inside. The Bible says in the book of Ephesians, after we have believed, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. And so, it was God that shut Noah in that Ark with himself. Now, the only way that Noah could have gone down would be what? For the Ark to go down. The only way for me to lose my salvation is for Jesus to go down because, friend, I am in Christ.

I am in the Lord Jesus. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation." Now, Noah may have fallen down many times in the Ark, but he never fell out of the Ark. That's the important thing. Sure, a Christian can slip and stumble and fall, but God shut Noah in. God shut the door. After that you believed, you're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Now, there's some people have the idea that one day they'll be secure, but they think that when they're secure is going to be when they get to heaven.

They're going to step into heaven, slam the door, and say, "Whew, boy, I made it. Hallelujah! I am saved. I am now in heaven." Wait a minute. Wait a minute. What makes you think you're going to be safe up there if you're not safe down here? The angels fell from heaven. You see, security is not in a place. Security is in a person, and his name is Jesus. His name is Jesus. "If any man be in Christ, in Christ, he is a new creation." So your position is in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, here's the next "p": possession. Possession. You already have eternal life. Listen to this scripture. John 5 and verse 24. Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, has everlasting life." Not will get it. You have it. Everlasting life is not something you get when you die. Everlasting life is something you get when you believe. Listen to the verse again: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, has everlasting life."

That means you've got it right now. Old King James English "hath." "Hath" and "has" is the same word. Hath everlasting life. You have it right now. You're eternally secure. Now, here's the seventh reason, not only a possession. Oh, excuse me. Here's the seventh reason: prayer. Prayer. Jesus is interceding for you. Jesus is praying for you. Turn to John chapter 17 for a moment. In John chapter 17, Jesus Christ is praying his great high priestly prayer, and Jesus is praying for his disciples.

This is what he prays for them in John chapter 17 and verse 9: "I pray for them: I pray not for the world,"—that is, the unsaved,—"but I pray for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine." Jesus said, "I'm praying for those that you've given me, Father. They belong to you." And then what does he pray for them? Well, skip on down to verse 15, and you see what he prays for them. He says this: "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil."

Our Lord is saying, "Father, I'm not praying that they're going to escape tribulation and heartache and difficulty, not that you take them out of the world, but Father, my prayer is that you will keep them from evil." Hallelujah! Now, I want to ask you a question. Has Jesus Christ ever prayed a prayer that wasn't answered? Of course not. Why? Because he always prays in the will of God. And he said, "Father, I thank you that you always hear me. I thank you, Father, that you always hear me."

Well, you say, "Yes, but he was praying for Peter, James, and John." That's true. But now go down to chapter 17 and verse 20. And Jesus said, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word." Isn't that wonderful? I am praying for those that will believe on me through their word. You can just put your name there. Friend, Jesus Christ has prayed for you that you'll be kept. Now, are you going to be kept? Of course.

If you're not kept, his prayer is not answered. Why? Hebrews 7:25: "Wherefore he is able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by him, seeing he"—what?—"ever liveth to make intercession for them." I have a Savior, a dear loving Savior. He is praying for me day by day by day by day and night by night and night by night and year by year and year by year on the basis of his perfect sacrifice. And that's the reason I'm secure. Prayer.

The last is power. That's the last word. Now, I want you to turn to 1 Peter chapter 1 and look at these verses. Listen to them. Oh, hallelujah! I love these. 1 Peter 1:3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope,"—that means a living hope,—"by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last day."

Who are kept by the power of God. Think of it. Kept by the power of God. You see, somebody says, "But Pastor Rogers, what if Satan were to take you out of the hand of God?" Remember the scripture we began with: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." Do you remember that? "Neither shall any pluck them out of my hand."

Can you think of a power strong enough to pry open the mighty hand of God and of the Lord Jesus? "My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." You say, "But the word 'man' is there; it doesn't say that Satan can't do it." Well, friend, if you look at your Bible real carefully, the word "man" is italicized. That means it's only supplied by the translator to make it read more smoothly. What it literally says is, "Neither shall any pluck them out of my hand."

Remember what Jesus said to Peter: "Peter, Satan has desired you, but I've prayed for you." Now, question: if Jesus is not able to keep you, if Satan indeed is able to pluck you out of the Father's hand, why hasn't he done it? Why hasn't he done it if he's able to do it? Let me tell you something, friend. The only reason he has not done it is because he can't do it. If you think that Satan could take you out of the Father's hand and he hasn't done it, then you know what the conclusion would have to be: Satan has been good to you.

And now you're going to heaven by the goodness of the devil. Wouldn't that be a strange doctrine? "Oh, he could, but he just hadn't." Well, you say, "Yeah, maybe Satan can't take you out, but you could take yourself out." Friend, John chapter 10, verse 28 says, "And they shall never perish." That is in the middle voice. It literally means they shall never destroy themselves. Listen, if he didn't save me from me, he didn't save me from my worst enemy.

"They shall never destroy themselves." A dumb, stupid sheep has such a Savior that that Savior will keep that dumb sheep. The power of God. Who are kept, kept by the power of God. That's the reason we're eternally secure. Now, what does that have to do with you? If there's somebody here today who needs to be saved, let me just tell you: come and give your heart to Jesus. And the same God who has saved and kept me is the God who will save you and keep you.

I promise. Better than that, he promises. And if you are saved, you ought to rejoice today and say, "Hallelujah! I've got a Savior, not a probation officer. Hallelujah! I've got a salvation, not just a down payment. Hallelujah! Thank God, I'm saved and I am secure." Father, seal the message to our hearts. And I pray today that many will come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. In his wonderful name I pray. Amen.

Guest (Male): Are you sure you're eternally secure today because of what Jesus did for you on the cross? Pray something like this from your heart: "Oh God in heaven, I know I'm a sinner and that you're holy. There's a big gulf between us, and I can't bridge that gap. But you did. You sent your only begotten son to live a sinless life and then die in my place on the cross and raise to new life, placing an amen on that work.

So today, I don't trust in anything else but what Jesus did. His work on the cross for me and the resurrection. I ask you to do that in my life. Come in, change me from the inside out. Give me a new nature, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen." If you prayed a prayer of consecration like that today, get in touch with us. Go to the website. You'll see our Find God's Love page. You can let us know what's happened in your life.

Go to lwf.org/radio and click the tab that says Find God's Love. We can't wait to hear from you today. Hi, this is Cary Vaughn, and this program has been brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a non-profit ministry showcasing the powerful preaching and teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers. We operate solely through the generous gifts of individual supporters just like you. To give a gift today, call 1-877-LOVEGOD. That's 1-877-LOVEGOD.

Or write to us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38-600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. You can also connect with us online by going to lwf.org/radio. There, we offer helpful resources inspired by the timeless teachings of Pastor Adrian Rogers. Additionally, you can sign up for daily emails, donate to the ministry, and learn more about how to become an ambassador of the word. Thank you so much for listening today. Be sure to join us next time for more profound truth simply stated, right here on Love Worth Finding.

We were so blessed to hear from a dear friend who wrote and said this: "I just lost my husband, who was an evangelist and missionary for 70 years. We had just celebrated our 66th wedding anniversary. We were never able to attend an actual service, but we listened to Pastor Rogers faithfully on radio, and I still do as I can. We consider him one of the greatest preachers of God's word."

Here at Love Worth Finding, we are passionate about the legacy of Adrian Rogers as we continue to help believers cultivate a vibrant faith in Christ. When you donate to the ministry this month, we'd love to send a copy of our Bible study, "The Door to the Morning." While end-times prophecy can be confusing, it can also be exhilarating. Those who follow Christ can be sure that we will watch his plans unfold. Request a copy at 1-877-LOVEGOD, and thanks for your generous support of Love Worth Finding.