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If you give us ears to hear this message today, I pray that you would fill brother Ben with the Holy Spirit, Lord. Help us to speak your word boldly. Give up clarity of mind, Lord. We love you. And in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. So you're there in Galatians chapter 3. Notice what the Bible says in verse number 1. O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, receive ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith. And then notice what it says in verse 3. Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? And that's the title of my sermon this morning. Are ye now made perfect by the flesh? What I'm going to be preaching against is this idea that once you're saved, you'll automatically repent of all your sins. You'll automatically live a perfect life. You'll automatically just live this clean, holy life without any choice of your own. It's something Calvinists believe. It's one of the tenets of Calvinism. It's called perseverance of the saints. But even independent Baptists have been confused by this. Without knowing it, they believe in perseverance of the saints. They teach that if you're truly saved, that salvation will produce works, or that faith will produce works. But that's not what the Bible teaches whatsoever. We see here in the book of Galatians that they're being rebuked by Paul for not obeying the truth. What does it mean to not obey the truth? It means you're not believing in the gospel of Jesus Christ. You're not believing that salvation is by grace through faith alone on Christ, and that once you're saved, you're always saved. You have eternal life. You could never lose your salvation. But in the falling away today, people have muddied the waters when it comes to this extremely important doctrine. Now there are those out there who would agree when we say salvation is by faith, but the caveat they add on to that is once you're saved, you're automatically going to do all the works. But is that what the Bible teaches? The answer is no, and we'll find that out here over the course of the sermon. There's a deception going around. Again, it's called perseverance of the saints, one of the five points of Calvinism. And let me tell you something. I don't care who it is. I don't care if it's a Baptist preacher. I don't care if it's somebody who claims to oppose Calvinism. If they teach that once you're saved, you'll automatically repent of all your sins. They're teaching Calvinism. It's as simple as that. Romans Chapter four. Let me read this for you real quick. You don't have to turn there, but in Romans Chapter four in verse fourteen, the Bible says, for if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of none effect. How could your faith be made void if you're trusting in works as well? There are those who would place if this is faith, they would place works as a necessary prerequisite. And of course, they're going to go to hell because they're going to be judged by their works. Their faith will be made void and God will condemn them to the lake of fire forever and ever because there's no man that sin is not. The Bible says there's none righteous, no, not one. Now, if you place works as a necessary result of faith, God will judge you by your works, because what you're saying is I'm saved because of my works. I'm saved because I turned a new leaf. I'm saved because of my own efforts to get to heaven. I don't care whether you're placing works before or after faith. In either case, your faith will be made void. You will be judged by those works. And there are people who so badly want to be judged by their own deeds. And God will judge them by their works at the Great White Throne judgment when he opens up the perfect law of liberty, when he opens up the Bible and he judges them by his perfect law, and they will fall short and be engulfed in flames for an eternity as a result. In either case, whether you're placing works before faith or as a necessary result of faith, it's called damnable heresy. And it's sending people to hell. Now, there are people who are confused and they would say, well, once you're saved, there's going to be some change, you know, and they're kind of on the spectrum, right? They might be, you know, if they're over here, kind of like, you know, once you're saved, maybe there might be a little bit of change. But then all the way on this side, you've got your Ray Comforts. All the way on this side, you've got your Paul Washer. All the way on this side, you've got these blatant work salvation heretics who don't believe the gospel. In fact, they hate the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if you're all the way on this end, if you believe somebody without, you know, that that's not showing any works or any evidence through their lifestyle, if you believe that person is not saved because of what you see, because of their works, you're not saved either. You're trusting in their works. Now, in this one, I'm going to cover examples of Christians in the Bible who are backslidden for at least an extended period of time. And I'm going to show you that these Christians were saved, but they didn't necessarily show it through their actions. And then I'm going to debunk some passages that these perseverance of the saints believers would take out of context to confuse people. There's two main passages they go to. We'll go to them a little bit later on. Galatians 3, 3, it says, Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? You start in the Spirit with faith, but it doesn't mean you're going to be perfect by the flesh. Skip down to verse number 10. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. If you want to be good enough to get to heaven, then you better make sure you're perfect. Because if you're not, you deserve hell. Just one lie would be enough for you to deserve an eternity of hellfire, torment and punishment. Look at verse 11. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God. It is evident for the just shall live by faith. There are going to be people who say, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And Jesus will say to those people, Depart from me, I never knew you. Why? They were justifying themselves, saying, Look at all the wonderful works I did. Look at the fact that I got baptized. Look at the fact that I went to church. Look at the fact that I walked an old lady across the street. I donated to charity. I'm such a good person. I have all these wonderful works. God, you should let me into heaven because I'm just so good. And he's going to cast them straight into hell because you could never be good enough. I don't care if you're placing works before faith or after faith. You're trusting in them, and they're going to lead you on a highway straight down to the lake of fire, straight down to hell. These people will be cursed. Go to Romans chapter number seven, Romans chapter number seven. While you do that, I'm going to read you a quote not from the apostle Paul. I'm going to read you a quote from another guy named Paul. And this guy isn't an apostle. I can tell you that he's as far away from an apostle as you can get. This guy's name is Paul Washer. Let's listen to what Paul Washer says is necessary for salvation. Let's listen to what Paul Washer says occurs once you're saved. Let's listen to how he muddies the waters when it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ, because he's a worker of iniquity that wants to send as many people to hell down with him. I'm going to read you this quote here before we get into Romans chapter seven. Paul Washer says the following about the concept of a carnal Christian. This is what he says, quote, That was a doctrine that started in a Baptist seminary. That is not a Southern Baptist seminary. It's not biblical and it's not historical. And then he says, My dear friend, notice the flattery. Notice how he flatters you first before lying to your face. My dear friend, there's no such thing as a carnal Christian. That's what Paul Washer says. Now, let's see what the apostle Paul says. Look down at verse number fourteen in your Bible. You're in Romans Chapter seven. Look down at number fourteen again. Verse number fourteen. Paul Washer says, No such thing as a carnal Christian. The apostle Paul says, For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. So who are we supposed to believe? Paul Washer? Paul Washer, some effeminate looking false prophet heretic or the apostle Paul? I'm going to go with the apostle Paul because his words were inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. Verse number fifteen, it says, For that which I do, I allow not. For what I could, for what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent under the law that it is good. For then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Look at verse twenty, Now if I do that I would not. It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. So what's Paul admitting here? That he too struggles with sin. I know it might seem a little confusing just reading that at face value, but that's basically in summation what he's trying to say. That he too struggles with sin. He says that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. It's the flesh that wants to sin. In Ephesians chapter four, I'm going to turn there real quickly. You don't have to, but I want to read you something out of Ephesians chapter four. There's a concept called the old man versus the new man. And when you get saved, you get the new man, but the old man is still there. And Paul admits that. In Ephesians chapter four in verse twenty-one the Bible says, If so be that she have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, that she put off concerning the former conversation, the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind that she put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. So this would be the old man. There's dirt. It's marred with sin. The new man, however, is perfect. Perfectly clear. No sin at all. The new man cannot sin. The old man, this one, sins. The old man is the flesh. The flesh is contrary to the spirit. The spirit wants to do what's right. The spirit cannot sin. That's why the Bible says, Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. The new man can't sin, but the old man does. And let me tell you something right now. When you got saved, the old man didn't go anywhere. It's still there. Now, Paul Washer says you can't be a carnal Christian, but the Corinthian Church were literally referred to as carnal. In First Corinthians three, you don't have to turn there. It says, And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ, I have fed you with milk and not with meat, for hitherto you were not able to bear it. Neither yet now are ye able, for ye are yet carnal, for as there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men. So what's he saying here to this church, that they're carnal, that they're walking in the flesh, they're not walking in the spirit. It's possible for a Christian to do that. Now, let's talk about somebody else here, Ray Comfort. I saw this video where Ray Comfort is speaking to a lady on an aircraft. And, you know, he's on a plane with her. He's trying to do his version of soul winning, which is really soul damning. And it never works. His method is basically to make you feel like crap. He goes through the Ten Commandments, and he makes the person he's speaking to feel like a total loser. He goes through each one of them and says, Okay, well, you're a lying blasphemer, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Well, here's a quote from Ray Comfort. After he goes through the Ten Commandments with this lady on a plane, who, by the way, this lady was perceptive. In this video, this lady wanted to be saved. She had a very real fear of God. She had a very real fear of hell fire. She badly wanted to get saved. And here's what Ray Comfort said to her in order to instruct her on how to avoid hell and go to heaven. He says, quote, What you have to do is repent and trust the Savior. Repentance is actually a turning from your sins. It's saying, God, I've sinned against you. I'm sorry. I'm not going to sin anymore. He says, You say, Well, well, that's pretty heavy. Well, that's what happens is God gives you a new heart with new desires when you're born again. So he makes this lady think that in order to avoid hell, she has to repent, stop sinning completely, and trust in Jesus to save her. But the Bible says if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Why did Jesus Christ have to die on the cross, get buried and go to hell on our behalf and then rise again after three days if we could save ourself by being good enough? Ray Comfort doesn't understand that. And this poor lady on the aircraft sitting there intently listening to this guy because she's searching for the truth was deceived. And Ray Comfort made her twofold more the child of hell than himself. And that's why he's wicked as hell. You say, Why do you get so upset at these preachers, Ray Comfort and Paul Washer and Jeff Durbin and James White and all the rest of them? Why does it anger you so much? I'll tell you why. A murderer of the flesh will murder your flesh, your flesh will go into the ground, and then if that person's saved, they end up going to heaven. But a murderer of the Spirit, somebody who intentionally deceives another person about what the gospel is, is responsible for them being lied to, believing in a lie, and spending an eternity in hell. Anybody who's made it their life's mission to do that, I hate. And Ray Comfort has done that. Ray Comfort isn't going to be very comfortable when he's being tormented in hell forever. Ray Comfort is a hell-bound wicked heretic. Ray Comfort hates the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ray Comfort has made it his mission to deceive people and to muddy the waters and to confuse people about the simplicity that is found in Christ. If you want to be saved, it's not about being good enough. It's not about repenting of all your sins. It's not about trying to make yourself perfect or turning a new leaf. If that were the case, Jesus wouldn't have had to die. It's all about trusting in the perfect Savior, Jesus Christ. And Ray Comfort doesn't understand that and he wants to make sure as many people as possible don't understand that and go straight down to hell with him. And it makes me sick. Psalm 106, it says, And he remembered for them his covenant and repented according to the multitude of his mercies. In Psalm 106, verse 45. You know who repented there? God. So does repenting always mean repent of sins? No, it just means turn. It just means turn. Matthew chapter 21, verse 32 says, For John, this is Jesus talking, For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not. But the publicans and the harlots believed him, and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterwards that ye might believe him. It doesn't say repented not afterwards that ye might turn from all of your sins and be perfect. It says repented not afterwards that ye might believe him. Repentance means to turn. In the context of salvation, turn from your unbelief to belief in Christ. Turn from trusting in your works, which will condemn you, to trusting only 100% on Christ, placing all your faith and trust and relying and depending on him for salvation. And that lady, you know, I pray that a soul owner who's actually saved knocks on her door because she genuinely wanted to be saved. Unfortunately, she ended up sitting next to a heretic, a dandable heretic, a false prophet, reprobate sack of filth who confused her on purpose. 1 Corinthians 3, it says, If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Go to Judges chapter 16, if you would. Judges chapter 16, the Bible says, if you have works that aren't necessarily meat for God, they will be burned up, but you'll be saved. There's gonna come a day where all saved people are judged. At the judgment seat of Christ, it'll be determined the responsibilities you have under Christ's leadership during his millennial reign. And so what we do in this life matters. If you want to earn blessings on earth, if you want to earn rewards in heaven, we should live right. We should do what God commands us to do, or else the Bible says he's gonna chasten us in this life. Jesus says who he loves, he rebukes and chastens. And so we ought to have a healthy fear of what God can do to our flesh in this life. I'm not saying that we have a license or that we should go out and live however we want because of eternal security, because of the fact that once you're saved, you're always saved. God will judge you on this earth. Make no mistake about it. Just assure his earthly parents punish their earthly children on this earth. But of course they would never kick them out of their family, and it's the same thing with God. Now in Judges chapter 16, what I want to do here over the next few minutes is I want to go over some people in the Bible who we know were saved, but they didn't necessarily endure to the end, as these Calvinists would say. They didn't exactly exhibit good works for a period of time. According to Paul Washer and Jeff Durbin and all the rest of these heretics, you have to live righteously from the beginning of your Christian life to the end in order to be saved. They believe that faith will necessarily produce works. But let's prove them wrong here by looking at actual examples of the Bible, in the Bible, of men who had faith, but didn't necessarily produce works. In fact, for a period, they lived a wicked life. I'm going to look at Samson first. Now Samson is mentioned in the Hall of Faith. He's saved. In Hebrews chapter 11, verse 32, and some facts about him. He's the son of Manoah. He was the result of a miraculous birth. He was a Nazarite, the Bible says, from his mother's womb. And so he was called to live a sanctified life. He slayed a lion. He used the jawbone of an ass to defeat 1,000 Philistines. And, you know, he had great strength, but then he had a little issue with women. In fact, it was a big issue. Judges 16, look at verse 1. Then went Samson to Gaza and there, and saw there and harlot and went into her. So there's his first mistake. The Bible says he went into her, went in under her, a harlot. This is a whore. This is a prostitute. He defiles himself. I would say he's backslidden at that point. 1 Corinthians 3, 16 says, Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. Our bodies are the temple of God, and so we shouldn't defile our bodies by committing wicked sins like fornication or adultery. Samson did that. He defiles his body with this whore, with this prostitute. It's filthy. Proverbs 23 says, For a whore is a deep ditch, and a strange woman is a narrow pit. A whore is a deep ditch. Samson fell into that. Look at verse number 4. And it came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth. And by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him, and we will give thee, every one of us, eleven hundred pieces of silver. And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. So she wants to know where Samson gets his strength from. And after toying with her for a little while, he tells her. Look at verse 21. Let's skip down for sake of time to verse 21. It says, But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass, and he did grind in the prison house. So they shave his head, they take him to prison, and then of course later on he commits suicide. He takes out the Philistines around him by standing in the house with the two pillars on both sides. He pushes them down. It comes, it crushes, the whole thing comes down. It crushes him and the Philistines. So we see that Samson goes from being a mighty man of God who's slaying a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. But I would say he didn't exactly, quote, unquote, endure to the end. For a time he didn't exactly exhibit good works. He goes in under a harlot. He defiles himself. He gets involved with Delilah, and it all ends with him committing murder, suicide by pushing down those two pillars, and the whole thing comes down on the Philistines. So Samson is an example of someone who didn't necessarily show good works as a result of his faith towards the end of his life. There was a period there where he was living in carnality. So I guess he lost his salvation according to Paul Washer. I guess he lost his salvation according to Ray Comfort. I guess they would say he was never saved to begin with. But then why is he in Hebrews chapter 11, the Hall of Faith? This man was saved. Why? Because salvation's eternal life. You could never lose it, whether you choose to live with it or not. Now there's no excuse for it. There's no excuse for what he did. And if you come to our church regularly, you know we preach hard against sin. And the new IFB preaches harder against sin than all these other milk toast churches, these left wing milk toast, purple light churches combined. The reality is, though, Samson chose to walk in the old man rather than the new man. And again, the old man is the one that's marred with sin. That's why I used this jar with dirt to symbolize it, because sin is dirt. But the new man is totally sinless. Go to 1 Kings chapter 11. 1 Kings chapter 11. Let's look at another man of God who backslid, who was carnal towards the end of his life, who experienced a time period in which he wasn't necessarily showing, as a result of his faith, good works. If salvation always produces good works, if salvation means you're going to automatically be perfect and repent of all your sins, then Samson wasn't saved and Solomon wasn't saved. Let's take a look at Solomon. This is a man who had, just like Samson, some trouble with women. And Solomon, he did great works for the Lord. He succeeds David for the throne. God ends up giving him wisdom. God gives him prosperity. God blesses him and blesses his kingdom, but then eventually things take a turn for the worse. And it's because he can't control himself. Look at 1 Kings 11 verse 1. It says, But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites, of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go into them, neither shall they come in unto you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods. Solomon clave unto these in love. This is an example of why we shouldn't be unevenly yoked with unbelievers, especially in the context of marriage. Single men, you want to get married? You ought to make sure that lady's saved. You ought to make sure she's godly, because the last thing you would want in your life is to be stuck with a pink-haired, dyke-looking feminist. If you think they're going to submit to you, you've got another thing coming. And they're not, they won't change, okay? There's some women that just won't change. So just stay away from them. Run for the hills. Verse 3, And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. Remember the quote I read earlier? Paul Washer says, It's impossible for a Christian to be backslidden. But here, I'm reading about Solomon in 1 Kings chapter 11, and he seems pretty backslidden to me. Seven hundred wives, three hundred concubines, that turned his heart after other gods? Yeah, that's the very definition of backsliding. The only way out of this is to say he wasn't saved, but that's ridiculous. That's totally stupid. Solomon, he had a major problem, and notice what it says in verse 4, his wives turned away his heart after other gods. Now single men, I want you to listen up, because this is an example of what could happen to you. If you're dating a girl, and she insists that you go with her to Catholic church, if you're dating a girl who happens to be deceived by false religion, let's say it's a Mormon, which by the way, I'm not sure why you would be dating a Mormon to begin with, but let's say you are, and she says I want you to go with me to Mormon temple so we can go worship John Smith, Joseph Smith, sorry, Joseph Smith. If you're dating a girl who happens to be totally deceived by false religion, whether it's Catholicism or Mormonism or the Jehovah's Witness cult, whatever the case may be, and she tries to entice you to go with her to that false cult, don't follow her. That's what happened to Solomon. He turned his heart after other gods to make his 700 wives happy, to make his 300 concubines happy, and it resulted in him backsliding to the point that he turned away from the living God who blessed him with the kingdom he was reigning over to begin with. And so you need to be the one that takes that leadership position and says, no, we're not going to the church of 1122 with their skinny jeans and their soft preaching. We're going to Steadfast Baptist Church here in Jacksonville, Florida. You'll be a leader and you say, let me take you to a real church where you can hear some hard preaching against sin and you can go soul winning with me and I can show you what it really means to be a Christian. Because if you don't, they'll turn your heart away and you'll end up like Solomon. I don't believe he was doing this. You know, I think it wasn't genuine. I think he was doing it to please his wives. So let's take a look at the consequence of what happens here. I want you to notice the pattern. Yes, these men were saved. They didn't lose their salvation because they backslid. But there are very real consequences for turning against God on this earth. And you're going to notice that in these examples. Look at what happened to Solomon. It says in verse number 9, skip down to verse number 9. And the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods, but he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, for as much as this is done of thee and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding in thy days, I will not do it for David thy father's sake, but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. Verse 13, howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom, but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen. So God says he's going to give one tribe to his son to keep the promise he made to David. But in verse 9 it says that the Lord is angry with Solomon. And it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. It's into the hands of the living God. The Bible says, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. God's your father in heaven, but make no mistake about it, he will slap you, he will punish you, he will chasten you on this earth if you turn on him. Verse 14 says, and the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite, he was of the king's seed in Edom. So an adversary is stirred up against Solomon. We see that this was the consequence for him turning his heart to other gods to try and please his wives and concubines, which in and of itself is a wicked sin. You should have one wife and you shouldn't have any concubines. Marriage is one man, one woman. Anything other than that is abomination. Anything other than that is sin. Now go to 1 Samuel chapter 18. 1 Samuel chapter 18. The lust of the eyes is a sin that's common to man and if you're not careful, especially if you're a single guy, it could get you in big trouble. And Solomon, despite being saved, fell into that sin. Despite being saved, his heart was turned unto other gods to try and please his wives and concubines. Despite being saved, he fell into full-on carnality because he decided to walk in this rather than the new man. Now I'm going to talk about Saul. Here's some facts about him. He reigned as king of Israel. He gave his daughter to David, to wife. He starts out, what's interesting about Saul is he starts out as a humble Benjamite, but then things take a turn for the worse because he gets envious of the acclaim David earned after slaying Goliath. He gets bitter towards David and that's the beginning of his downfall. It says in 1 Samuel 18 verse 6, And it came to pass, as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul with tabrets with joy and with instruments of music. And the women answered one another as they played and said, Saul hath slain his thousands and David his ten thousands. Now this, Saul doesn't like hearing. And we shouldn't have that attitude. If somebody in this church is receiving acclaim because of their good works, if we're all winning because certain people are carrying us, you know, if they're just doing most of the work, they're just better than us at soul winning or whatever the case may be, we should be happy that the work is getting done. We shouldn't be bitter toward that person for succeeding in the Christian life. And then look what it says in verse 8, And Saul was very wroth, he didn't like this. And the saying displeased him and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands and to me they have ascribed but thousands. And what can he have more but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. So he's envious of the acclaim that David had earned for himself. The people loved David. Saul didn't like that. And so this vicious attitude he had leads him down a horrific road. He tries to kill David. The guy basically loses his mind. This is what it means to be backslidden, folks. And what Saul did, it reminds me of when the men of Ephraim were complaining to Gideon. When Gideon won that battle against the Midianites, the men of Ephraim come and they say, How come you didn't invite us? Well, hey, guess what? The battle was won. Whether you were involved or not, you should be happy. When the work of the Lord is being done, you should be happy about that. Not upset that you didn't have a bigger role to play in the process. But Saul has that attitude. Saul is bitter toward David. Saul wanted the acclaim. Saul wanted the spotlight. Saul wanted the preeminence. Saul wanted to be looked at by those women and to receive the praises from them. Look at verse number 10. And it came to pass on the morrow, so the next day, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul and he prophesied in the midst of the house. And David played with his hand, as at other times, and there was a javelin in Saul's hand. And Saul cast the javelin, for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. And Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him and was departed from Saul. So Saul was no longer in the will of God. He's completely envious of David. He's completely jealous of David. He doesn't like that David got the acclaim for slaying the Philistine and that the people love David. So what's his solution? To congratulate him? No. To throw a literal javelin at his face. That's wicked as hell. And that's pure carnality. He's walking in the old man. Go to 1 Samuel chapter 20. 1 Samuel chapter 20, if you would. We'll continue looking at the story. Now here's what David writes in Psalm chapter 59 about the persecution he's facing during this time. He says in verse 1, while you're turning to 1 Samuel 20, it's just a couple of chapters over. It says in verse 1, deliver me from mine enemies, oh my God. Defend me from them that rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity and save me from bloody men. For lo, they lie in wait for my soul. The mighty are gathered against me, not for my transgression nor for my sin, oh Lord. They run and prepare themselves without my fault. Awake to help me and behold. So this is a time of great distress for David. That's what he's trying to communicate there in Psalm 59. That, you know, he's being chased down for no reason in his eyes. He's being persecuted. The people he once trusted are going after him. His life is in danger. And it's a really stressful time for him. Now here's the context of 1 Samuel chapter 20 where I said I wanted you guys to turn to. David basically tells Jonathan to have a feast with Saul and David isn't going to show up. And the idea is to see how Saul's attitude is going to be toward David. Because Saul kept changing his mind and going back and forth. So this was David's attempt to discern whether or not Saul really wanted to murder him. And if he flipped out when he found out that David wasn't there at the feast, he would get his answer. And that's actually what ended up happening. So here we see that Saul asks, you know, why isn't David here? And then Jonathan responds and he explains that he's with family in Bethlehem and that's when things get nasty. Look at verse 30. This is how Saul responds when he figures out what David's up to. When he figures out that David's not at the feast, he's in Bethlehem. Verse 30, 1 Samuel chapter 20 verse 30, the Bible says there, Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse, rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse of thine own confusion? And unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness, for as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die. And Jonathan answered Saul his father and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? What hath he done? I'll tell you what he did. He bruised Saul's ego. Look at verse 33. And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him, whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to slay David. So Jonathan, trying to surmise what Saul's attitude would be toward David, he gets his answer. Saul says that man's going to die, and in fact, Saul goes as far as casting a javelin at his own son. Jonathan. That's how backslidden he was, Paul Washer. He lost the kingdom. He lost his position of authority. He loses his mind, folks. Saul lost his mind. He was purely carnal at this point, totally walking in the flesh. Now I'm going to read to you from First Samuel chapter 22. You don't have to turn there. But in First Samuel 22, the Bible says, And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn and slay the priests of the Lord, because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled and did not show it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the Lord. And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests and slew on that day four score and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. So as if that wasn't enough, he's trying to slay David, his former friend, out of jealousy. As if that wasn't enough, he casts a javelin at his son Jonathan. As if that wasn't enough, then he murders God's priests. He commands Doeg the Edomite to murder God's priests. Saul had lost it at this point. You say, Surely he's not saved. Surely this is a man who lost his salvation. Surely this is a man who was never really saved to begin with. I mean, after all, he didn't exactly endure to the end, right? I mean, think about it. What good works is Saul producing here? Just wickedness. Go to 1 Samuel 28. The guy reaches his breaking point. He feels banished. God won't speak to him. And so out of desperation, he goes and meets a witch to conjure up Samuel. He's been trying to communicate with him. And the witch ends up conjuring up Samuel. Now, I believe this is a miracle that he's able to speak to Samuel. I don't think the witch had any magical powers or anything like that. I do think God orchestrated this. And it says in verse 17, 1 Samuel 28, verse 17. Real quick, I just want to mention, Samuel's a man of God. And this is another one who's saved. He's in the Hall of Faith. And he's speaking to Saul from heaven. Notice what he says to him in verse 17. And the Lord hath done to him as he spake by me. For the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand. Here's Samuel speaking to Saul. And given it to thy neighbor, even to David. Verse 18. Because thou obeyest not the voice of the Lord, nor executest his fierce wrath upon Amalek. Therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day. Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me. The Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines. He refused to wipe out the Amalekites. That was part of, you know, his downfall. But then we see also, he totally loses his mind. But despite the fact that he was living a completely carnal lifestyle, what does Samuel say to him? He says, tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me. And where is Samuel speaking from? Heaven. So, here we see an example of someone who didn't exactly exhibit good works, but he was saved. Because Samuel says he's going to be with him in heaven. Now, here's how people will try and skirt around this. They'll say, well, Samuel was speaking to him from this compartment in hell. There's hell in the bottom of the earth, and you've got the good side of hell where Samuel is. And then you've got the bad side. And Samuel's telling him he's going to be with him in the sense that he's going to the bad side of hell. That's stupid. It's called Abraham's bosom. Abraham's bosom, that doctrine, is probably one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. Abraham's bosom is not a mystical place, folks. It's a body part. It's not a place. When you die, you go to heaven or hell. That simple. In Job 1.6, the Bible says, now, there was a day when the sons of God And listen, unless you believe in the Nephilim and this weird garbage, the sons of God are saved Christians. And it says, in Job 1.6, now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. Now, the Lord's in heaven, the sons of God approach him in heaven, the sons of God are in heaven. Prior to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, you either go to heaven or hell, and that was true from Genesis to Revelation. Okay, so I just wanted to get that out of the way. Samuel's in heaven, he says to Saul, tomorrow you'll be with me, meaning Saul was saved the entire time. Now, does that excuse what he did? Absolutely not. Notice the consequences for his actions on this earth. His life was ruined. He eventually commits suicide. He kills himself. He lost everything. He lost the kingdom. He lost his position of authority. He didn't get the acclaim of men, and in fact, forever, he'll be known as a Christian who totally lost his mind, and as a bad example. Let's look at another example here. You don't have to turn there, but for sake of time, I'm just going to skim through this one. Lot, in Genesis chapter 19, is another man who was saved, didn't exhibit any good works. In fact, he was a coward. He offers his own daughters to the Sodomites in Genesis chapter 19. And 2 Peter chapter 2 says that God delivered just Lot vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. So Lot was delivered out of Sodom, but he was justified despite showing no works. In Genesis 19, it says, Behold now, I have two daughters which have not no man. Let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes only unto these men do nothing. For therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. The angels come in. He doesn't want them to be hurt by the Sodomites, and instead he offers his two daughters like a coward. But the Bible says he was justified. It says that God delivered just Lot. He was saved, didn't show any works. You say, well, these are all Old Testament examples. These are men in the Old Testament. Come on, give me some New Testament. These people didn't have the Holy Spirit living inside them. People will use that excuse sometimes. So, fine. I'll give you a couple of examples from the New Testament. But again, I just want to make sure people are understanding what I'm saying here. I'm not telling you to go out and live a wicked life. If you do, God will ruin your life on this earth. You'll lose out on rewards in heaven. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. You will reap what you sow. However, works are not a necessary result of faith. And we see that in the life of Solomon, in the life of Samson, in the life of Saul, in the life of Lot. And now let's go to the New Testament and let's look at an entire church. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Let's go to the New Testament and see, let's test out this theory that once you're saved, you're automatically perfect. Lordship, salvation. I'm going to get up out of bed. I'm going to go sowing for 12 hours. I'm going to read my Bible for another 6 hours. You all heard the Pastor Anderson rant. I don't want to rip it off right now. But you get where I'm going with this. The idea that once you're saved, you're sinlessly perfect. No. When you die and you lose this, the only thing that's left is this, then you won't have any sin. But while you're in this life, while you're walking this earth, you have to fight that daily battle between the spirit and the flesh. And it's your choice. Every morning when you wake up out of bed, which side you're going to choose. And let me tell you something. Choose wisely. Choose wisely. Now 1 Corinthians 5, it says in verse 1, here's Paul talking to this church in Corinth. He says it's reported commonly that there's fornication among you and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles that one should have his father's wife. And you are puffed up and have not rather mourned that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily as absent in body but present in spirit have judged already as though I were present concerning him that hath so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you're gathered together in my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. So this is disgusting fornication going on in the church here. A man having his father's wife. Now does Paul tell the Corinthians they were never really saved because of what's going on here? No. He says that this person ought to be delivered unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh because there's a division I've been trying to make throughout the whole sermon between that which is physical and that which is spiritual. And there are saved Christians who might end up going home early, who might go to heaven early as a result of their sin on this earth because sin has the capability of destroying your flesh in this life. That's why we should turn away from it. It doesn't mean you're always going to, however, and see we hear people in the church who were saved that were committing this wicked sin and he says they need to be delivered unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. Go to 2 Timothy chapter 4. Let's keep moving here. 2 Timothy chapter 4. Paul's companion, Demas, forsakes him. He backslides into worldliness. He doesn't persevere all the way to the end. Philemon 1 says, there's Salutathie Ephratas, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellow laborer. So Demas was a fellow laborer of the apostle Paul, but notice what the Bible says in 2 Timothy chapter 4. It says in verse 10, Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present world. And that's what I wanted to point out, that Demas fell back into worldliness. And you'll see this all the time when you go to church. There are going to be people who fall out. There are going to be people who stop coming. There are going to be people who decide they'd rather stay at home and play video games in mommy's basement than come here and do the work of the Lord. They fall into worldliness. They get scared, perhaps, of the persecution that comes with going to a church like this. There's always a different reason for each case. But the bottom line is, just because you fell into worldliness, just because you didn't endure to the end, doesn't mean you were never saved to begin with. Demas was saved. He was a fellow laborer with Paul. I would imagine he wouldn't have picked somebody who wasn't saved to be his fellow laborer. And also, Paul could have very easily stated here in 2 Timothy chapter 4 that Demas was never saved to begin with. But he never uses that language. Because he was saved. He just fell back into carnality because it's possible. And that's why we should take heed. Because it can happen to any one of us. Now go to Acts chapter 5. Let's look at the final example in the New Testament. Acts chapter 5. How about Ananias and Sapphira? Ray Comfort says, when you're saved, you stop lying. Even though he's a liar. But he says, once you're saved, no more lying. No more sin. Acts 5, 1, it says, but a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession and kept back part of the price. His wife, also being privy to it, brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. And Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land? Verse 4, while it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. So the reason why these people lied to God, Ananias and Sapphira, it's because they have the Holy Ghost inside them. They lied to the Holy Spirit. There are severe consequences for that. What ends up happening to Ananias and Sapphira is they drop dead. Right there, the church is fearful. The church is scared as a result of this event, as they should be, because God judges them right then and there. He takes them home early because they lied about the profit they made from selling the land. They lied about the price. They put down in front of the apostles' feet an amount of money that wasn't really what they claimed it was. They were just trying to look righteous in the sight of men and they kept back part of the price. So they lied to the Holy Ghost and they died. They fell asleep, but they ended up going to heaven. Now again, Ray Comfort says you can't lie after you're saved. Well, Ananias and Sapphira were saved, but they lied. So that guy doesn't know what he's talking about. Now, in verse 5 there it says, And Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and gave up the ghost, and great fear came on all of them that heard these things. And then Sapphira, the same thing happens to her. Now, in the final 10 minutes, I just want to go over a few scriptures that are twisted out of context by these people to promote their perseverance of the saints' doctrine. It's really important that we go over these because they're used to deceive people. And nothing gets me more angry than those who would take the Word of God and distort it to promote lies, especially lies that send people to hell. Go to James chapter 2. James chapter 2. So we looked at Samson, we looked at Saul, we looked at Solomon, Lot, the Corinthian Christians, Ananias and Sapphira, Demas. And in each case, these are saved people who backslid, these are saved people who chose carnality over God, and there were some severe consequences for them, they were judged. Now, what I want to show you is a couple of scriptures, a couple of passages that are taken out of context by these people. We're going to start in James 2. While you go there, I want to read Ephesians 2.10. It says, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. So verse 10 says, we're created to do good works that we should walk in them. You should do good works. You should sanctify yourself from the world. You should go out preaching the gospel. You should be a righteous Christian, but it doesn't mean you're going to be. James 2, look at verse 14. It says, What doth it profit my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works, can faith save him? So, I would surmise here that this isn't talking about heaven or hell salvation. It says that if a man has faith but doesn't have works, can faith save him? Well, look a few verses back at James 2.12. It says, So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. And we know in 1 Corinthians 11, the Bible says, But when we are judged, we're chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. So when you go back to James 2 and look at verse 14, it says, What doth it profit my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works, can faith save him? The question is, save him from what? And that would be the chastening of God. Faith without works ain't going to save you from God chastening you on this earth. He will judge you. You will reap what you sow. And if you have faith, it's not going to save you from that punishment, from that punishment in this life. Look at verse 15. If a brother or sister be naked in destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled. Notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are evil to the body, what doth it profit? So if you have faith without works, it doesn't profit anyone. It doesn't profit your brothers and sisters in Christ. You're not going to be blessed by God. You're not going to earn any rewards in heaven. James 2 is a get to work chapter. It's not stating that faith necessarily results in works, nor is it stating that works are a necessary prerequisite for salvation. It's stating, hey, now that you're saved, let's move on now. Let's move on from the foundation of our faith a little bit here, and let's get to work. Verse 17 says, Even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Now this one's probably the most abused verse in the whole Bible. Faith without works is dead. You'll hear that a lot when you go out soul winning. Well, if my cell phone dies, is it still a cell phone? If my cell phone dies, does it mean it ceases to exist? No. If my cell phone dies, I can't use it to call people. I can't use it to text people, to communicate with people. Similarly, if you have a dead faith, God can't use you to do good works. God can't use you as a vessel unto honor to fulfill His will. If you have a dead faith, it doesn't mean your faith never existed. It means your faith is just not profitable. God can't use you if you have a dead faith, if you're sitting at home doing nothing. Just assure, as my cell phone is unusable, if it's dead. Doesn't mean it doesn't exist though. And so look at verse 18. It says, Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believeth there's one God. Thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. You hear this a lot. Oh, you believe salvation is my faith alone? Well, the devils believe. Okay, here's the problem with that. Jesus didn't die for devils. That's the first point. And second of all, yea, if you have good doctrine, if you believe there's one God, if you have good doctrine, that doesn't mean that God isn't going to chasten you on this earth if you totally rebel against Him. Just because you have good doctrine doesn't mean you have an excuse to not do work for Him. There are souls out there who need to be saved. And if you believe right on the Trinity, if you believe right on salvation, if you believe right about the Godhead, that there's one God, if you have right doctrine, if you understand your Bible, the onus, the responsibility is now on you to go tell other people. That's what James 2 is about. Hey, listen. Great. You believe right? Awesome. Get to work then. Verse 20, But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father, justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. Listen to this. And he was called the friend of God. That's James 2 in a nutshell. You want to be a friend of God? Do the works. This isn't saying, you know, how to get to heaven. This is not about salvation. This is not about what to do to be saved, to escape hell. It's about how to be a friend of God. And Abraham was a friend of God because he did the works. And if you want to be a friend of God, you need to get to work. You need to get the sin out of your life. You need to go soul winning. You need to come to church three times a week. In 2 Chronicles 6, you don't have to turn there. The Bible says, Then thou hear from heaven and do and judge thy servants by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head, and by justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness. So this is Solomon's prayer concerning the temple of God. And notice the word justify is being used, not in terms of heaven or hell salvation, but justification in a physical sense. James 2 is teaching Abraham was justified by works in the sense that he was a friend of God because he earned a blessing for doing work for God. That's what it's all about. And Matthew Chapter 7. Let's go there real quick. Matthew Chapter 7. This is another one that's twisted out of context. In Matthew Chapter 7, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. You hear this one a lot, too. Well, all things are become new. So once you get saved, you're just going to be perfect, right? Well, here's the thing. Yeah, all things are become new. The new man. You get the new man when you get saved. But the old man didn't go anywhere. So what's it's talking about? All things are become new, meaning that you now have the new man. The new man cannot sin. It's a reference to the new man. You have to understand the difference between the old man and the new man. Matthew Chapter 7. We're almost done here. Look what it says in verse 15. Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they're ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruits. This is Brian Dinlinger's favorite passage right here. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit. But a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits, ye shall know them. So there are different applications you could take to this. Some would say Matthew 7 is talking about converts. That those who are saved will have converts. And I think that's fine. I'm not against anybody that believes that. In my personal belief, I think that the primary application of Matthew Chapter 7 with regard to fruits is it's talking about your words. It's saying that a good tree will bring forth good fruit, meaning good words. How do we discern whether someone's saved when they go out door knocking by what comes out of their mouth? Not by how they're living. Now if the fruits here in Matthew 7 is referring to works, then this would be teaching that it would be impossible for a false prophet to do good works. But that's ridiculous because I'm sure Joel Osteen walks old ladies across the street every once in a while. I'm sure Paul Washer donates to charities and all the rest of it. It's possible for a false prophet to do good works. But the Bible says, Jesus himself says, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. And so a false prophet, when you dig in deep enough, they're going to say something that condemns them. The Bible says by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. And so I believe that this is in reference to what comes out of the mouth, the fruit of the lips. Isaiah 57 says, I create the fruit of the lips. Hebrews 13 says, by him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. Now obviously if you have good words coming out of your mouth, when you go out sowing you're going to have converts. I have no issue with the idea that fruits mean converts. That's fine too. What I do have an issue with and what makes no sense whatsoever is teaching that the fruits in Matthew chapter 7 are works. Because then again, like I said, a false prophet is capable of doing good works folks. That's how they deceive people, by doing good works. Now go to Romans 4 and we're going to be done. Romans chapter 4 and we'll be wrapping this thing up here. In 2 Corinthians 11 the Bible says, but I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. And that is why we fight the good fight of faith. Because there are those out there who are trying to corrupt the simplicity that is in Christ. Salvation by faith alone. Once you're saved, you're always saved. If you ask God to save you, he will. And that's the end of the story. Romans chapter 4 says, but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. His faith is counted for righteousness, even as David also described it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God impudeth righteousness without works. Let's look at verse 7 saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom God will not impute sin. And that's my closing statement this morning. If you're saved today, if you have the Holy Spirit inside you today, God will not impute sin on your account. Once you're saved, that part's over. Jesus Christ did the work for you. And so, what I want to close with is this. We all know the truth here at Steadfast Baptist Church. We know it's not true that those who are saved will automatically turn from all their sins. We know the difference between the old man and the new man. We know that guys like Ray Comfort and Paul Washer and all these hellbound heretics are liars and deceivers and workers of iniquity who are working for the devil to bring people down to hell with them. We know that these are wicked people. And so, we have a responsibility since we know the truth to go out and show people the truth and to clear up the confusion and fight the good fight of faith and make sure people understand that they can be sure they're going to heaven, not based on how they're living, not based on whether they're going to church, not based on whether they're reading their Bible or walking in the Spirit more than the flesh. All those things are great things, but they can know for sure that they have eternal life because of what Jesus accomplished at Calvary. And I say that we illuminate the world, not just our community, but the world about what's going on and clear up the confusion that emanates from these false prophets. There are good people out there who need to hear it, ignorant people who don't know any better, who are deceived by the TV preachers. Let's show them what the truth is. Let's show them what the Bible says. Father, I thank you for this opportunity and Lord, I just pray that people got something out of this and I pray that you bless this church, bless the soul winning coming up a little later. And Father God, I love this church and everyone here. I pray for baby James, Lord, that you would intervene in that situation and heal the child. Father, we need you now, Lord, more than ever in that particular situation. And I just pray that you would intervene, Lord, heal the child. Father God, be with that family, Lord, and bless that family as they are going through a really difficult time right now. Be with them and just pray that everything goes okay. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Song number 18, everybody on the first. Take the name of Jesus with you, child of sorrow and of woe. It will joy come forgive you, take it then where you go. Thank you.