CAN A CHILD OF GOD BE LOST?
  1. INTRODUCTION:

    1. SCRIPTURE READING: [I Corinthians 10: 1-15].

    2. WILDERNESS WANDERING: All the Israelites died that were over 20 years of age in the wilderness, save Joshua and Caleb, due to their murmuring against God [Numbers 14:26-35].

  2. DISCUSSION:

    1. THE NEW TESTAMENT RESOUNDS WITH A LOUD – YES!
      1. The book of Acts tells people how to be saved.
      2. Twenty-one books tells people how to keep saved.
      3. Here are two examples of erring Christians:
        1. Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8:18-22, who sought to buy the power of the Spirit for personal use. -- "And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee."
        2. Christians to whom John wrote in I John 2:1 = "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him." ….. James 5:16 = "Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

    2. THESE PASSAGES ARE MISUSED TO SHOW ONE CAN NOT BE LOST:
      1. John 5:24 = "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."
        1. The emphasis here is upon the "word": Accepting Christ and His Word as our rule and guide to live by as we pass from a life of sinfulness to a life of righteousness.
        2. Christ prayed to His Father to keep his disciples from evil. Now why would Christ have done that if they could not be lost anyway. John 17:14-15 = "I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil."
      2. John 10:27-28 = "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."
        1. This is true as long as the individual follows Christ. Ephesians 5:1-5 = "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor coveteous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."
        2. We need to careful unless we fall into the snare of the devil. I Peter 5:8-9= "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." Note: What Paul wrote to Timothy, II Timothy 2:22-26 = "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righeousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."
        3. Paul even wrote that elders could fall into the devils snare. II Timothy 3:7 = "Moreover he (an elder, JHB) must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil." …. Paul in speaking to the elders at Ephesus said Acts 20:30 = "Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them."
      3. Romans 8:35 = "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"
        1. The emphasis here is on who shall or what shall separate us. That answer is the DEVIL.
        2. Those living in faithful obedience to God’s Word, will never be separated from God. These are those that:
          1. Are men of God "throughly furnished unto all good works" [II Timothy 3:16-17].
          2. Are soberly watching for the devil, who is "walking about seeking whom he may devour" [I Peter 5:8].
          3. Are "taking heed lest he fall" [I Corinthians 10:12].
        3. There is more to Christianity than calling on the Lord, as we must comply with Luke 6:46 = "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"
      4. I John 3:9 = "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."
        1. The key to keep one from sinning is that the seed remains within us.
          1. What is the seed? - Luke 8:11 = "…The seed is the word of God."
          2. The word produces faith. Romans 10:17 = "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by he Word of God."
          3. Faith is the shield that keeps sin out. Ephesians 6:16 = "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."
        2. The means by which we "take heed how we stand" (I Corinthians 10:12), is having on the "whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" [Ephesians 6:11]. [See Ephesians 6:11-17].

    3. THE BIBLE TELLS US A CHILD CAN BE LOST:
      1. I Corinthians 10:8 = "Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand."
      2. I Corinthians.. 10:12 = "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."
      3. Galatians. 5:4 = "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace."
      4. Hebrews 6:4-6 = "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."
      5. II Peter 2:20 = "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning."
      6. Revelation 3:15-16 = "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

    4. MANY PASSAGES CONFIRM THAT ONE CAN BE LOST WITH WARNINGS AND EXHORTATIONS:
      1. Luke 9:62 = "And Jesus said unto him, no man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
      2. Luke 17:32 = "Remember Lot’s wife."
      3. I Corinthians 9:27 = "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."
      4. John wrote concerning the church at Ephesus. Revelation 2:4 = "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love."
      5. Revelation 3:5 = "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."
      6. Luke 8:13 = "They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away."

  3. CONCLUSION: THERE IS NO NEED FOR ONE TO FALL IF:

    1. LIKE THOSE FIRST CHRISTIANS "…Continued stedfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" = Acts 2:42.

    2. WE FOLLOWED THE EXHORTATION OF PAUL IN I Corinthians 15:58 = "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, foasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." ….. Revelation 14:13 = "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."

    3. WE REMAIN FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH [Revelation 2:10].

    4. ONLY YOU WILL BE ONE THAT WILL ENDURE TO THE END FOR THESE ARE THE ONES THAT "SHALL BE SAVED" [Matthew 10:22].

 

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