WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.240 we've had some mighty wonderful heart -to -heart 00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:10.039 talks regarding this thing of, now, shall I say, 00:00:10.199 --> 00:00:16.199 eternal security or being eternally secure or 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:20.160 call it anything that you will, but in reality, 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:26.539 it's just this. If after once you had been born 00:00:26.539 --> 00:00:30.769 again, And you've had this wonderful experience 00:00:30.769 --> 00:00:35.509 of having accepted the Christ as your personal 00:00:35.509 --> 00:00:43.869 Savior. Are you eternally secure? No matter what 00:00:43.869 --> 00:00:51.909 you do, will you still be an heir of God and 00:00:51.909 --> 00:00:58.350 a joint heir with Christ Jesus? Oh, I know. This 00:00:58.350 --> 00:01:01.869 thing has put many a church wide open. I know 00:01:01.869 --> 00:01:05.849 that's one of the reasons that we have Baptists 00:01:05.849 --> 00:01:11.189 and Methodists and Presbyterians. I know it as 00:01:11.189 --> 00:01:14.549 well as you know it. Well, you know, sometimes 00:01:14.549 --> 00:01:19.109 I think that some of these things that we consider 00:01:19.109 --> 00:01:22.849 doctrine and that we'd stake our life on are 00:01:22.849 --> 00:01:25.030 things that have just been handed down from one 00:01:25.030 --> 00:01:29.840 generation to another. when really we need to 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:34.920 get back again to the Word of God. Now, in one 00:01:34.920 --> 00:01:39.340 of our heart -to -heart talks, we read from the 00:01:39.340 --> 00:01:42.819 first chapter of Ephesians this wonderful relationship 00:01:42.819 --> 00:01:47.599 that there is between that one who's born again, 00:01:47.780 --> 00:01:51.060 that one who's a Christian, the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:01:51.319 --> 00:01:57.019 and God the Father. Oh, it's glorious. And you 00:01:57.019 --> 00:02:01.120 will remember that from this portion of God's 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:06.000 word in the first chapter of Ephesians, and may 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:09.080 I just read two verses to refresh your memory. 00:02:10.699 --> 00:02:17.419 According as he hath chosen us in him before 00:02:17.419 --> 00:02:20.699 the foundation of the world, that we should be 00:02:20.699 --> 00:02:27.349 holy and without blame before him. in love having 00:02:27.349 --> 00:02:31.810 predestinated us unto the adoption of children 00:02:31.810 --> 00:02:37.169 by jesus christ to himself according to the good 00:02:37.169 --> 00:02:40.889 pleasure of his will to the praise and of the 00:02:40.889 --> 00:02:45.550 glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted 00:02:45.550 --> 00:02:51.550 in the beloved oh what a picture what an inheritance 00:02:53.640 --> 00:02:56.860 My friend, this is the most thrilling portion 00:02:56.860 --> 00:03:02.620 that there is in the Word of God. This is glorious. 00:03:04.599 --> 00:03:10.400 Every human being from the first Adam to the 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:18.039 very last person to be born in the flesh was 00:03:18.039 --> 00:03:22.500 predestinated. It was in the perfect will of 00:03:22.500 --> 00:03:29.020 God. that he should accept the Christ and be 00:03:29.020 --> 00:03:36.080 literally an heir of God Almighty and a joint 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:40.860 heir with God's Son, Jesus Christ. That's what 00:03:40.860 --> 00:03:46.139 it says. Sure, I believe in predestination. I've 00:03:46.139 --> 00:03:51.439 got to believe in predestination. I believe in 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:56.669 it because the... Bible says so. But hold steady 00:03:56.669 --> 00:04:03.610 just a minute. I believe in predestination exactly 00:04:03.610 --> 00:04:14.270 as it was in the plan of God. In his plan, he 00:04:14.270 --> 00:04:19.730 did not plan that any man should be predestined 00:04:19.730 --> 00:04:27.259 to hell. That's a shocker. If you go to hell, 00:04:27.420 --> 00:04:32.720 it will not be because God ordained that you 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:39.180 be sent to hell or predestined that you be lost. 00:04:40.339 --> 00:04:43.939 It was never in his plan that any man, any woman 00:04:43.939 --> 00:04:53.199 should be lost. You have made the choice. He 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:59.800 is not willing that any should perish. He is 00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:06.199 not willing that you should be lost. That is 00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:10.019 the reason he has done everything in his power 00:05:10.019 --> 00:05:14.459 to keep you from going to hell. That's the reason 00:05:14.459 --> 00:05:17.939 he sent Jesus. That's the reason the Holy Spirit, 00:05:18.199 --> 00:05:22.800 the mighty convicting power of the Trinity, in 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:29.199 the world today. It was in His perfect will, 00:05:29.379 --> 00:05:35.060 even before the foundations of the world, even 00:05:35.060 --> 00:05:40.879 before you were born, it was in His perfect will 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:48.160 that you should be His heir and a joint heir 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:54.759 with His only Son. Jesus Christ. But you have 00:05:54.759 --> 00:06:04.939 not chosen to be his heir. You made the decision. 00:06:06.500 --> 00:06:13.439 I made my decision. You are free to make your 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:21.389 decision. You have made it. And you cannot blame 00:06:21.389 --> 00:06:28.230 God for the decision you made. When you came 00:06:28.230 --> 00:06:32.949 into the world, when you were born, you were 00:06:32.949 --> 00:06:38.250 born with a will separate and apart from the 00:06:38.250 --> 00:06:45.850 will of God. You make your own destiny so far 00:06:45.850 --> 00:06:49.819 as your soul is concerned. But it doesn't change 00:06:49.819 --> 00:06:58.120 the fact one iota. That he hath chosen us. That's 00:06:58.120 --> 00:07:03.160 you. That's me. In him before the foundation 00:07:03.160 --> 00:07:07.079 of the world. That we should be holy and without 00:07:07.079 --> 00:07:12.379 blame before him in love. Having predestinated 00:07:12.379 --> 00:07:17.779 us, you and me. unto the adoption of children 00:07:17.779 --> 00:07:21.600 by jesus christ to himself according to the good 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:26.199 pleasure of his will why to the praise and of 00:07:26.199 --> 00:07:29.699 the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us 00:07:29.699 --> 00:07:35.279 accepted in the beloved all plans all arrangements 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:44.480 all power is there for you to be the very heir 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:50.720 of And yet you have chosen a different life. 00:07:53.459 --> 00:07:57.779 And there it is. You can't get around it. Well, 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:01.199 sir, now watch something. I have to leave that 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:04.339 because I could stay on that for a week. It's 00:08:04.339 --> 00:08:07.279 all so thrilling. It's all so wonderful. Now 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:15.980 remember, you are a free moral agent. Everything 00:08:15.980 --> 00:08:21.259 from here on out depends on your will and on 00:08:21.259 --> 00:08:29.720 what you do with your own life. Now, turn with 00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:34.159 me, if you will, please, to Hebrews, the sixth 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:37.460 chapter. I just touched on that briefly the other 00:08:37.460 --> 00:08:45.019 day. And I want you to see something. It means 00:08:45.019 --> 00:08:51.220 something to be a Christian. It's much more than 00:08:51.220 --> 00:09:00.940 joining a church. It's much more than just kneeling 00:09:00.940 --> 00:09:06.919 down and saying a few prayers. It's much more 00:09:06.919 --> 00:09:12.480 than having a father and a mother who are Christians. 00:09:14.669 --> 00:09:19.750 It means much more than just shedding a few tears. 00:09:21.850 --> 00:09:30.509 It means much more than immersion, or sprinkling, 00:09:30.570 --> 00:09:38.629 or dedication, or knowing the catechism. Much 00:09:38.629 --> 00:09:47.009 more. Mm -hmm. And there are thousands, I say 00:09:47.009 --> 00:09:54.389 advisedly, tens of thousands who believe that 00:09:54.389 --> 00:09:59.289 they are Christians, but it's only by their own 00:09:59.289 --> 00:10:05.370 standards, are the standards of their church, 00:10:05.549 --> 00:10:11.350 are the standards of two or three generations. 00:10:12.889 --> 00:10:18.809 before them. We've got to get back to the Word 00:10:18.809 --> 00:10:23.649 of God. There's no substitute for God's Word. 00:10:24.309 --> 00:10:27.309 For one of these days, every man and every woman 00:10:27.309 --> 00:10:33.429 will be judged from His Word, the Holy Word, 00:10:33.690 --> 00:10:38.730 of which the Holy Spirit is the author. I referred 00:10:38.730 --> 00:10:40.669 the other day to the sixth chapter of Hebrews, 00:10:40.769 --> 00:10:45.090 and some folk really were in for a shock because 00:10:45.090 --> 00:10:47.750 there's a portion of the sixth chapter of Hebrews 00:10:47.750 --> 00:10:54.129 that has been misconstrued, misinterpreted. Let 00:10:54.129 --> 00:10:58.850 me read. For it is impossible for those who are 00:10:58.850 --> 00:11:01.230 once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly 00:11:01.230 --> 00:11:03.990 gift were made partakers of the Holy Spirit and 00:11:03.990 --> 00:11:06.710 have tasted the good word of God and the powers 00:11:06.710 --> 00:11:09.460 of the world to come. if they shall fall away, 00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:13.899 to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they 00:11:13.899 --> 00:11:17.039 crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, 00:11:17.080 --> 00:11:22.700 and put him to an open shame. Now watch that 00:11:22.700 --> 00:11:28.379 ninth verse. But beloved. Now he's talking to 00:11:28.379 --> 00:11:34.240 another group. He begins by saying, it is impossible 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:42.299 for those. Now, he is talking to another group 00:11:42.299 --> 00:11:47.580 when he says, But, beloved, we are persuaded 00:11:47.580 --> 00:11:52.899 better things of you and things that accompany 00:11:52.899 --> 00:11:57.620 salvation. If you've been born again, if you've 00:11:57.620 --> 00:12:02.320 had this wonderful experience, there will be 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:05.639 certain fruits that will accompany you. accompany 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:13.080 your salvation. And it's just like that. The 00:12:13.080 --> 00:12:19.559 Bible says we're to work out our own salvation. 00:12:20.700 --> 00:12:23.620 And there are people who literally have spent 00:12:23.620 --> 00:12:27.860 a lifetime working out something they've never 00:12:27.860 --> 00:12:34.100 had. Oh, they're working themselves to death 00:12:34.100 --> 00:12:39.649 today. They're working at being good until, honestly, 00:12:39.750 --> 00:12:41.889 I tell you the truth, they're so good, they're 00:12:41.889 --> 00:12:47.370 good for nothing. They're working so hard at 00:12:47.370 --> 00:12:55.309 something that they've never had. You've got 00:12:55.309 --> 00:12:58.409 to have something before you can work it out. 00:13:00.460 --> 00:13:03.759 You cannot work out your own salvation until, 00:13:03.899 --> 00:13:09.019 first of all, you've been born again. Then after 00:13:09.019 --> 00:13:16.279 you have been born again, then, my friend, you 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:21.960 work out your own salvation because there are 00:13:21.960 --> 00:13:25.240 certain things that will accompany salvation. 00:13:26.919 --> 00:13:29.960 I'll come to that in just a moment. Because I 00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:32.940 don't want to allow you to be hanging there in 00:13:32.940 --> 00:13:36.759 thin air and not knowing what that scripture 00:13:36.759 --> 00:13:40.659 means prior to this ninth verse. And just in 00:13:40.659 --> 00:13:44.279 case, there are those who did not hear my interpretation 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:47.240 of it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit 00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:51.940 when I gave it recently. Those to whom he was 00:13:51.940 --> 00:13:56.460 talking to prior to this ninth verse had never 00:13:56.460 --> 00:14:00.409 experienced salvation. And this is the appalling 00:14:00.409 --> 00:14:06.269 thing. The great tragedy in the world today is 00:14:06.269 --> 00:14:10.129 the fact that there are thousands of people who 00:14:10.129 --> 00:14:13.450 are making a pretense of this thing of being 00:14:13.450 --> 00:14:19.750 a Christian. And they have never been born again. 00:14:19.889 --> 00:14:24.370 I repeat, it means something to be a Christian. 00:14:26.279 --> 00:14:33.740 You can fill a church pew 52 Sundays a year. 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:43.460 For 50 years, you can be given every award that 00:14:43.460 --> 00:14:46.620 they give a human being for perfect church attendance. 00:14:47.220 --> 00:14:51.440 You can sing from that hymnal and know every 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:57.360 song and every verse of that song. You can stand 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:01.620 and repeat the Lord's prayers, sing the doxology, 00:15:01.820 --> 00:15:05.820 be able to quote the scripture better than the 00:15:05.820 --> 00:15:10.480 man who stands behind the pulpit, and yet be 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:17.860 lost. I'll go a step further. Hold on to your 00:15:17.860 --> 00:15:22.139 seat now. And if we're standing up, lean against 00:15:22.139 --> 00:15:24.320 the wall. This is going to be a shock against 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:30.659 some of you. You can even enjoy the things of 00:15:30.659 --> 00:15:37.100 the spirit. You can even speak in an unknown 00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:46.399 tongue and never having been born again. I better 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:48.279 pause just a minute while you get your bread. 00:15:50.059 --> 00:15:52.779 That's right. Somebody said, oh, Miss Cooman, 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:56.759 you're on dangerous ground. I'm never on dangerous 00:15:56.759 --> 00:15:59.360 ground when I can back up everything that I say 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:04.139 with the Word of God. One never has to apologize. 00:16:06.220 --> 00:16:10.679 If you stay with the Bible, but there are too 00:16:10.679 --> 00:16:16.279 many people who have their own theology, there 00:16:16.279 --> 00:16:20.679 are too many people who have left the Word of 00:16:20.679 --> 00:16:27.330 God or who have taken just a portion, of a verse 00:16:27.330 --> 00:16:33.990 or you've taken it out of context. My friend, 00:16:34.230 --> 00:16:41.309 watch something. We need to get back to the word 00:16:41.309 --> 00:16:48.149 of God again. Stop being swayed by every newfangled 00:16:48.149 --> 00:16:53.860 doctrine that's coming up on the horizon. I've 00:16:53.860 --> 00:16:57.159 gotten to the place where I've stopped reading 00:16:57.159 --> 00:17:01.360 these religious magazines and these books and 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:04.960 every book that's being published and one has 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:07.779 to go a little further than the other and get 00:17:07.779 --> 00:17:11.220 a little more sensational than the other. I'm 00:17:11.220 --> 00:17:14.400 sick and tired of this sensational business. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:22.809 We need to get back again to the word. And when 00:17:22.809 --> 00:17:26.750 you stay with the word, you'll never get off 00:17:26.750 --> 00:17:30.589 in fanaticism. And the devil will never be able 00:17:30.589 --> 00:17:34.970 to make a religious nut out of you. That's right. 00:17:38.470 --> 00:17:42.250 Somebody said, I wish I hadn't tuned in. Well, 00:17:42.569 --> 00:17:45.390 I'll tell you, honey, just stick with me a little 00:17:45.390 --> 00:17:48.930 longer. And if you'll just sit there with an 00:17:48.930 --> 00:17:51.769 open mind and an open heart, let the Holy Spirit 00:17:51.769 --> 00:17:54.930 speak to you. We need some of this old -fashioned 00:17:54.930 --> 00:17:59.490 preaching again. We've gotten so far away from 00:17:59.490 --> 00:18:05.250 thus saith the Lord. Mm -hmm. There are those, 00:18:05.390 --> 00:18:08.690 I give the scripture, who were once enlightened. 00:18:10.009 --> 00:18:14.390 You know. Oh, I'll say you know. You know you 00:18:14.390 --> 00:18:17.799 sing in the choir. You go to church, you're there 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:21.380 for the prayer service, you attend those prayer 00:18:21.380 --> 00:18:24.420 meetings in somebody's home, you sing louder, 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:28.359 you pray louder, you yell louder than anybody 00:18:28.359 --> 00:18:32.660 else. Sure, you've tasted of the heavenly gift. 00:18:33.500 --> 00:18:36.099 Sure, you felt the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:39.400 You were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. You 00:18:39.400 --> 00:18:43.400 know all about it. You have all the answers. 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:48.920 You've tasted the good word of God and the powers 00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:54.160 of the world to come. Sure you have. But watch. 00:18:55.380 --> 00:19:03.859 Had you ever been born again, have old things 00:19:03.859 --> 00:19:09.099 literally passed away and old things having become 00:19:09.099 --> 00:19:16.579 new? Mm -hmm. Do you have the things that accompany 00:19:16.579 --> 00:19:24.180 salvation in your life? There's no substitute 00:19:24.180 --> 00:19:33.160 for the love that we as Christians manifest if 00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:38.960 we've really been born again. There's no substitute 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:45.769 for the power. the real power of the Holy Ghost. 00:19:47.809 --> 00:19:53.009 If you've really been born again, you will not 00:19:53.009 --> 00:20:04.049 deliberately sin. I mean that. If you've really 00:20:04.049 --> 00:20:08.769 been born again, it is not that you no longer 00:20:08.769 --> 00:20:14.339 have the ability to sin. No, because even though 00:20:14.339 --> 00:20:16.619 we've been born again, we're still in the flesh. 00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:22.480 This is still corruption. We are a new creature 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:24.880 in Christ Jesus, but when we were born again, 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:26.980 the devil wasn't born again at the same time. 00:20:27.940 --> 00:20:34.140 He's still in the world. He wasn't born again. 00:20:35.460 --> 00:20:42.029 We still have sin all around us. Mm -hmm. We're 00:20:42.029 --> 00:20:44.690 still in the body of flesh, the body that is 00:20:44.690 --> 00:20:49.690 still corruption. But when we were born again 00:20:49.690 --> 00:20:52.829 and we had that wonderful spiritual experience, 00:20:53.049 --> 00:21:01.130 that new birth, born of the spirit, a new creature, 00:21:01.250 --> 00:21:04.529 old things having passed away, and behold, all 00:21:04.529 --> 00:21:10.349 things becoming new, we were given a love for 00:21:10.349 --> 00:21:15.740 others, but a supernatural love for God and the 00:21:15.740 --> 00:21:23.140 things of God where we will no longer deliberately 00:21:23.140 --> 00:21:33.160 go out and commit sin. We may commit sin, but 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:35.460 the minute we do, we'll ask His forgiveness. 00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:39.660 I would no more think of going out and deliberately. 00:21:43.120 --> 00:21:47.920 knowingly commit sin, put Jesus, the Son of God, 00:21:47.980 --> 00:21:52.980 to an open shame for anything in the world. My 00:21:52.980 --> 00:21:59.599 friend, let's take this natural love. I love 00:21:59.599 --> 00:22:04.759 my Papa more than any human being that I have 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:08.880 ever known. I have never known my father to ever 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:14.529 laugh. Never. I don't think Papa ever laughed 00:22:14.529 --> 00:22:17.910 audibly. I was the only noisy one in the family. 00:22:19.529 --> 00:22:25.930 But I knew his every facial muscle. I knew it. 00:22:27.589 --> 00:22:33.990 My friend, I could watch Papa's face. He didn't 00:22:33.990 --> 00:22:38.029 have to open his mouth. He never laughed audibly. 00:22:39.079 --> 00:22:42.599 But I could tell by the expression on his face 00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:45.539 whether he was pleased, whether he was hurt, 00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:51.299 whether he felt badly. My papa never whipped 00:22:51.299 --> 00:22:56.859 me. My dad never laid a hand on me. Never. Not 00:22:56.859 --> 00:22:59.279 that I didn't need it. Mama made up for it. But 00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:02.700 papa didn't. Not that I was afraid of him. But 00:23:02.700 --> 00:23:07.779 I loved him too much to hurt him. And the very 00:23:07.779 --> 00:23:13.680 moment... that I saw that book on his face where 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:18.680 I'd hurt him or displeased him. Believe me, my 00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:22.920 friend, I was very careful to make it right. 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:31.839 I love my Heavenly Father enough that I would 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:38.380 never think of going out and deliberately, knowingly, 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:46.859 Not that I am afraid of his wrath. It's because 00:23:46.859 --> 00:23:53.000 I love him too much. I love Jesus Christ, my 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:56.579 Redeemer, my Savior, enough that I would not 00:23:56.579 --> 00:24:03.259 think of putting him to an open shame by deliberately 00:24:03.259 --> 00:24:10.180 going out, knowingly committing sin. And my friend, 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:13.059 if you belong to him and you've been born again, 00:24:13.259 --> 00:24:19.559 you will not deliberately sin.