[0:00] On the screen there, it says, I know that the Word of God is true. And I'll tell you, for me, it's a great privilege to be able to speak about this topic.
[0:15] ! We're always there, waiting for us to pick it up and go to it.
[0:33] God's not going to beat us over the head and force us to get into His Word. But He's always there within the pages of His book, waiting for us to spend time with Him and get to know Him.
[0:48] There is no book quite like this book. It's our bedrock. It's our solid foundation. It's our final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
[1:03] So I suppose then it's probably only fitting that we start off considering the veracity of the Word of God or how we can know that this book is true. Because if it isn't true, and if there's any doubt whatsoever about anything that's written in its pages, then there's no point in Greg or Jason getting up here tonight or the next six guys after this in the next few weeks.
[1:29] Because everything that they're going to say will be based on what this book says. And if we can't trust this book, then we are of all men most miserable.
[1:40] Amen. The Apostle Paul says that we are to walk by faith and not by sight. But our faith is based on very real things.
[1:54] This book, the book that you all have on your lap, is a very real book. And it was written by very real men who were inspired by a very real God, who wrote of a very real Savior, who lived a very real life, and died a very real death, and had a very real resurrection.
[2:14] And it makes some very serious claims about our lives and about our futures. So how do we know that it's true? You know, we as Christians can certainly take it for granted that it is true, because we've always believed that it's true.
[2:28] But it's good to have some convictions behind our belief, because the devil is a deceiver. You know, and doubts creep in our lives.
[2:41] You know, the very best Christians out there doubt from time to time. You know, maybe it's only 30 seconds of doubting, and then you're reassured once again. And maybe for others it carries on for weeks or months on end or whatever, and puts them into a spiritual depression.
[2:55] So it's always good to have some convictions behind what we believe, and what we trust in. So what gives this book authority, and what gives it credibility, and what makes this book unlike every other book that's out there?
[3:12] John 17, 17 says, Thy word is truth. And to you and I, that may be enough. You know, we say, God said it, I believe it, that's enough. But to the man on the street, that may not be enough.
[3:26] You know, the Muslim believes that he has the truth, and the Hindu believes that he has the truth. The Buddhist believes he has the truth. The Mormon believes he has the truth. The atheist says there is no truth, and the agnostic prides himself on his ignorance, and his refusal to commit to any truth, and so on and so on.
[3:47] Secondarily, there's always the argument of a changed life. You know, we'll say that we know the word of God is true because it's changed my life. It's cleaned me up. It cleans up the very foulest of us.
[4:00] It gives sight to the blind, and it makes the crooked straight. It restores sanity to the maniac of Gadara. And that ought to be true of each and every one of us.
[4:17] I mean, if you have been a Christian for any amount of time, you should be able to say that this book has made an impact on your life, and it's cleaned you up and changed you, and you're not the person that you were when you first believed.
[4:28] But let's be honest. There's many a person who received a cookbook for Christmas and changed their diet so that it changed their life. I've never felt better ever since I stopped eating this or that.
[4:45] Likewise, there's many a person who's read a Dale Carnegie book on how to win friends and influence people and said that changed their life. People have read Norman Vincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking, and they said, well, that changed my life.
[5:00] But there's got to be something else, something else that we can hang our hat on that doesn't come down to our own feelings. We can't base the truth of this book on us, on man.
[5:14] It needs to be based on something higher. So while this book does change lives, and if you've been saved again for any amount of time, you should absolutely be able to attest to that in your own life. There's something else which separates this book from all other books in existence, and that is that this book can tell the future.
[5:32] This book contains more absolute truth in it concerning past, present, and future history than any other book in existence. This book gave details on the birth of Christ hundreds of years in advance.
[5:44] This book gave details on the death of Christ thousands of years in advance. This book gave details on the rise and fall of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and the Roman Empire hundreds of years in advance of their rise and falls.
[6:03] This book gave the name of the king, King Cyrus, who would issue a decree for Israel to return to the land and rebuild Jerusalem. Dr. Ruckman wrote in his commentary on the book of Daniel, The Bible not only gives you history in the past, it also records history before it ever takes place.
[6:23] It will give you 48 facts of one man's life anywhere from 4,000 to 400 years before he is born, and every single item comes to pass just as predicted. The chances of that happening, according to the statistical laws of probability, are 1 in 10 to the 157th power.
[6:43] There aren't that many electrons in three universes the size of this one. Moreover, according to those same laws, if the chance of a thing is over 1 in 10 to the 50th power, it will never take place.
[6:57] This Bible is a supernatural book that defies statistical probability. But what does God say? God made his ability to tell the end from the beginning, the supreme proof that he and he alone is God, and there is no other like unto him.
[7:19] In his rebuke of Israel in the book of Isaiah, for there are many gods which are no gods, he said in Isaiah 46, verses 5 through 10, To whom will you liken me and make me equal and compare me that we may be like.
[7:34] They lavish gold out of the bag and weigh silver in the balance and hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god. They fall down, yea, they worship. They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him and set him in his place, and he standeth.
[7:50] From his place shall he not remove, yea, one shall cry unto him, yet he cannot answer, nor save him out of his trouble. Remember this, and show yourselves men.
[8:00] Bring it again to mind, O you transgressors. Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times, the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.
[8:22] He said furthermore in Isaiah 48, verses 3 through 5, I have declared the former things from the beginning, and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them.
[8:33] I made them known. I did them suddenly, and they came to pass, because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass.
[8:45] I have even from the beginning declared it to thee. Before it came to pass, I showed it thee, lest thou shouldest say, mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.
[9:01] And here is God's challenge to, and rebuke of all other gods, all other religions, all other so-called truth. In Isaiah chapter 41, verses 21 through 24, he says, produce your cause, saith the Lord, bring forth your strong reasons, saith the king of Jacob.
[9:28] Let them bring forth, and show us what shall happen. Let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them, or declare us things for to come.
[9:40] Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods. Yea, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. Behold, ye are nothing, and your work of naught, and abomination is he that chooses you.
[9:55] Listen, God gave us an ironclad guarantee that we can believe him, and trust in his every word, when he did, and continues to do, what no other can do, in declaring the end from the beginning.
[10:10] And because we are sons of God, and possess the mind of Christ, we also have been given, a spirit of prophecy. We know our own futures.
[10:22] And there's not anybody else, in any other religion on this world, that can tell you, where they're going when they die. We know the future, of Israel. We know the future, of this country.
[10:35] We know the future, of the world. And no other religion, again, no other so-called truth, can make that same claim. And I don't mean for this, to sound Calvinistic, but the God who is able, to orchestrate the future, of nations hundreds, of years in advance, how much more so, is he equipped, to care for, and orchestrate the future, of your life, and mine.
[10:59] And he's left us, this precious promise, in Romans 8, 28. We know that all things, work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the call, according to his purpose.
[11:11] And if you will, this is actually, a prophetic statement, directed in you and I, who are in Christ Jesus, which we have seen, come to pass, over and over again, in our own lives, which is still further proof, that the word of God, is indeed very true.
[11:28] So how do I know, that the word of God, is true? Well this book, is authored by the one, who stakes, his very deity, on the fact, that he is able, to tell the end, from the beginning.
[11:41] And we had that book, right here, in our hands, on our laps. And because we know, that this book is true, because we know, that this book is true, you can listen, with confidence, to your pastor, each week, and to the next, eight guys, who stand up here, behind this pulpit, over the next couple weeks.
[12:00] What they say is true, because it's based, on this book, and there is no other book, like this book. Amen.
[12:25] Amen. I was going to be this nervous. My topic is, I know the date, of the rapture.
[12:36] And, I'm going to give it, to you guys right now. I'm just joking. My topic, I don't know if it's up there.
[12:49] Yep. Why I can say, I know that I am saved. And a very important topic. And, if you guys could go to, 1 Corinthians, chapter 15.
[13:03] Before you guys, even go up there, I'll just quote real quick, 1 Timothy 2.4. This is about God, who will have all men, to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge, of the truth.
[13:21] So, it's clearly God's will, for us to be saved. And, we're in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15.
[13:31] I'm just going to pray, real quick. Thank you, Father, for saving my soul, Lord. Thank you for, this book, Father, that, has so much for us, Lord.
[13:43] And, it's just amazing, that you would not only save us, Father, but just give us so much, truth in this book, to have access to, Lord. And, I thank you for it, Lord.
[13:54] Thank you for this opportunity, Father. And, thank you for my brothers, and sisters here, Lord. I pray it's a blessing, to you, and to them, Father, asking Jesus Christ's precious name.
[14:05] Amen. So, I didn't grow up in church. I didn't, uh, know any of this stuff. I got saved at the age of 25, um, watching, most of you guys know this, I was watching a YouTube video, Billy Graham, preaching a crusade.
[14:25] And, um, from my upbringing, I, I'm Armenian, so, Armenian upbringing, it's very Catholic-like faith, and, uh, they have this stupid saying, that Armenians are the first Christians, because as a nation, they adopted Christianity.
[14:45] And, as a kid, you just grow up in it, and, like, it, it sticks. Like, you just think, yeah, I'm a Christian, I'm Armenian, we're Christians, this, this, every time I would see a church, just traditions and stuff.
[14:57] So, at the age of 25, I heard Billy Graham preach, and at the end of, his sermon, he had invitations there in the stadiums, but he would address it to the camera too, where, would you, would you come, would you receive Jesus Christ?
[15:16] And I didn't even heard anything like that before. So, I did what he said, as best as I knew, I got saved, just me, and the Holy Spirit of God in that room, used this recording, and I got saved.
[15:33] And, uh, this is, this is what I did, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, uh, starting at verse one, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory, what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
[16:01] For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures.
[16:16] So, after 25 years of my life, of me thinking I'm a good person, or I never killed anyone, so I'm good enough, and so on and so forth, um, I finally did what God wanted me to do, and as it says here, that, just verse one, at the end of it, ye have received, I received a person, and his name is Jesus Christ.
[16:41] I received this free gift, and, uh, you don't have to turn here, but John, in John chapter one, he says, he came unto his own, and his own received him not, but as many as received him, to them gave he power, to become the sons of God, even, to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
[17:07] So, like I said, it's a great privilege, to grow up in church, and to know this stuff, and I didn't have that, so, um, it's just, um, me, God, and YouTube, at this point, there's no Christians, in my life, there's no Bible teacher, in my life, there's no pastor, in my life, um, it's just me, and immediately, like I just started eating up, as much as I, this is brand new stuff to me, so, I start telling everyone, everything's at the devil, and stuff, you know, people get new converts, and stuff, but, um, I didn't really know much, it's just, um, no one to teach you, thank God, in early, just, I think it's common sense, that I, like, obviously, God helped me, but, when people would say to me, about the Bible, and there's like, a bunch of different versions, and when they would say to me, well, they all say the same thing, I thought that was insane, when they're talking about, like, all these books say the same thing, because, clearly, they don't, so, thank God,
[18:11] I found out about the King James, so, I was listening to King James preaching, and stuff, but, the topic is that, I know I am saved, they would say, some crazy stuff, well, if you're saved, you wouldn't do such and such sin, and you know your own heart, and, you start doubting, because, even though you've had this change, in your life, where all you want to do, is hear about the Bible, hear about God, and stuff, and then, they throw doubt, into you knowing your salvation, you're supposed to know you're saved, it's biblical, that you should know you're saved, and then, turn to one more passage, it's Matthew chapter 7, Genesis, Exodus, Matthew chapter 7, and, as a new convert, I mean, well, for me, it was new, but everyone should have a reverence, for the word of God, but for, especially when you don't know something, you're scared to death, and you come into,
[19:14] Matthew chapter 7, verse, 21, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter, into the kingdom of heaven, but he that, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven, many will say to me, in that day, 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 then I will profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, he that work iniquity, so as a, so as a, new born again, babe in Christ, um, seeing stuff like this, and not knowing, like it says, I know, that I am saved, um, it puts doubt into you, and clearly, it's from the Bible, it's my King James Bible, and this is the words, in my King James Bible, so it wasn't until I found out about rightly dividing the word of truth, that my Bible began to open up to me, where I could know it, and I could understand it, and I could have confidence in it, and, um,
[20:27] I'm going to quote you from a book, this is a book by Dr. Walker, on rightly dividing the Bible, it's a great quote, it says, if you force scriptural truths together, that do not go together, you create a contradiction in the Bible, since every word of God is pure, we know there are no incongruities in scripture, if you notice a passage, that seems to contradict another passage, the problem isn't with the Bible, the problem is with how you are reading the Bible, and that stuff made so much sense to me, and you rejoice in your spirit, where it's, it's like, that verse in 2 Timothy, about rightly dividing the word, a great part of that, that doesn't get preached to, is not being ashamed, I don't have to be ashamed, when I tell people like, no brother, this is my book, from cover to cover, it's written, uh, for me, but not all of it's written to me, this is God dealing with, entire human history here, and,
[21:36] I love Matthew, Matthew's one of my favorite books, but this ain't, addressed to me, so when I found out that stuff, I really began to tell people, everything's of the devil, and so on and so forth, and then, um, last, uh, page is, uh, we could turn to, is 1st John chapter 5, 1st John chapter 5, and when pastor gave us this, uh, he gave all the men, this little printout, um, about our topics, and, uh, he just gave Kevin, like, some stuff, he wanted us to follow, the 10 minutes, and so forth, and, uh, he said, be thorough and convincing, when declaring what the Bible says, allow it to be authoritative and firm, and amen to that, and then if you go to 1st John chapter 5, this is, like, the verse for the topic I was given, 1st John chapter 5, verse 13, these things have I written unto you, that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know, ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the Son of God, so God wants us to know, he not only wants us to be saved, he wants us to know we're saved, and with that comes so many different things, it's not only your own relationship, which is the most important thing after salvation, but, just to know, like, hey man, my father said this stuff, and,
[23:06] I know he's my father, even though I mess up, and I do this, and I'm still in this flesh, and, my standing and state are two different things, and, you could boldly come unto him, when you know you're his son, that's all I got, this was not chat GPT, I did this myself, okay, how are we doing folks, last July, when I went back to Ohio, that's where I'm from, to take care of my mom, after she had colon cancer surgery, she gave me this really old, but really precious treasure, of a Bible, this Bible here, from the Nashville Bible House, in Tennessee, and, you know, when I, when I took it home, back to California,
[24:14] I started going through it, and one of the things, I came across, was this, this page right here, where it says, spiritual gems of the Bible, right, and, it says there, I'll read it, because it's a little light, it says, the Ten Commandments, the 23rd Psalm, Psalm 23, we all know about that, right, the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer, the 91st Psalm, and the two great commandments, and so I took, one look at that, and, I said, frankly, this is what's wrong, with Christianity, in America, this is Fox News, Christianity, this is the extent, of what people, saved or not, what they know, about Christianity, now, sure, those items there, they're gems, but they're not diamonds, they're like rubies, maybe emeralds, what about 1 Corinthians 15, the entire chapter, it's action packed, so to speak, where's that at, so I submit to you folks tonight, that some diamonds, that should be there, are on the subject of, eternal security, how I know, that I, am always saved,
[25:30] I'm not going to lose it, I'm kept safe, secure, by God himself, and, I'm going to start with, some passage, that speak to me, the strongest, on the matter, and, but, hopefully culminate, into, something that's, even more powerful, I guess, overall, but let's go to, Ephesians chapter 1, Ephesians 1, okay, and, verse 13, and, and then, of course, Paul's writing, of course, he's writing, or dictating, and, in verse 13, Ephesians 1, 13, and, it says here, in whom you also trusted, after that ye heard, the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed, with the Holy Spirit of promise,
[26:41] I'm a, I'm a words guy, I teach Spanish, and so I, I fixate on language, and words, but, that sealed, you know, it's like when you, we don't do it too much anymore, because of email, you know, but, you know, when you put a, a letter in an envelope, you seal it, why?
[26:58] So that the letter doesn't fall out, okay, and, and let's, we see that again, in the same book of Ephesians, chapter 4, chapter 4, verse 30, and Paul, Paul writes here, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed, unto the day of redemption, just like, you know, I think of Matthew 20, what is it, 2766, where the stone, they put the stone of the tomb, and it sealed it, nobody was getting in, nobody's getting out, except the Lord Jesus Christ, of course, but, he's not a regular man, so, that just that, the imagery of something being sealed, and, that gives me a lot of comfort, it tells me that, that, I'm not going to fall out of that envelope, which is the presence of God, right?
[27:56] And, and another couple areas that speak to me, on the matter of being saved, and kept saved, we could find in John 10, doing all right there?
[28:14] Okay. John 10, J-O-H-N, John 10, and, start here in, verse 27, all right, and the Lord is speaking here, and the Lord says, 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.
[28:54] My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. And so the image, you know, I'm very animated when I teach Spanish, but it's like, you know, you're, you're in the hand, and nobody can like snatch you out of, out of God's hand.
[29:16] And, while we're in John, some people may not think of this, as a, as a passage on eternal security, but, in John 17, the chapter is kind of known as the Lord's Prayer, because the Lord's praying to the Holy Father, that's in heaven, God the Father, not somebody wearing a silly hat, but, in, in John 17, 9, once again, the Lord's speaking, like I said, it's the whole chapter, 17, 9, the Lord says, I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine, and all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them, and now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee,
[30:22] Holy Father, keep through thine own name, keep, keep through thine own name, those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are, verse 12, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name, those that thou gavest me, I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled, you know, it's one thing for, you know, when I was teaching Spanish in Indiana last year, I was really comforted by Pastor, and Rich Pfeffer, for communicating with me, and praying for me, and for my classes, and so it's one thing to have fellow brothers in Christ, and praying for you, but of course, it's quite another thing, when the Lord himself is praying for you, and then before I get to, what I think is the culmination, on this topic of eternal security, and you'll see why, I'm going to conclude with this, but about 19 years ago, by the way,
[31:27] I got saved in April of 1992, but back 19 years ago, I lost my freedom for a little while, and unlike the Apostle Paul, I deserved it, okay, but I remember one time, my brother and I, my brother attends a church in Lancaster, and he and a friend of his from the church, Kim Rupert is the guy's name, he was a big shot at the Lancaster Sheriff's Station, like some commander or something, and they came in to visit me, and I remember this guy, Kim Rupert, he was talking to me first, and he honestly said this, he's like, in front of my brother, he's like, he's like, you know, he's like, you know, Jason, well, there's separation, he's like, Jason, you know, are you sure you're saved, you know, and he was saying that based on things, what I had done, you know, and I kind of got enraged, but I just, I said, and this is what I said, I was being a wise guy,
[32:28] I said, Kimberly, his name wasn't Kimberly, but I said, Kimberly, can you please step out, I just want to be with my brother Randy, it's my brother Randy, led me to the Lord, all those years earlier, and then my brother Randy said, you know, Jason, he didn't really, you know, say anything bad about the guy, but he's like, you know, Jason, you know, no matter what happens, he's like, you don't, you don't have to worry, you know, it's going to be hard, what you're experiencing, and I'm like, well, okay, but, and then he took me, he, or he, I don't know if he had the Bible with him, I don't know if they let him bring one in there, but, but I know what it, I'll never forget what it was, it was, let's go to Romans 8, Romans 8, verse, verse, the last two verses, 38 and 39, and Paul writes here, for I'm persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[33:56] My, my brother, he's like, you know, he's like, bud, he always calls me bud, he's like, bud, you know, just, you know, meditate on that, he's like, you know, no matter what happens, if you, you know, if we die, if we die, and we're in a state of, well, you know, we weren't living a good life for the Lord, it doesn't, it doesn't matter, you don't, you don't lose what the Lord promised, you don't, you don't lose your salvation, just because you, you screw up, even to the degree that I did, but, and then, you know, principalities, talking about the spirit world, Ephesians 6, 12, or, or, you know, you could apply that to people in government, law enforcement, I mean, you have to, you have to, you know, be a responsible citizen, but, but basically, they can, you know, you can lose certain things, because of your actions, but, but you can't lose your, your salvation, and, and I know that,
[35:03] I know that, I know that it's very unwise for anybody that's saved to, to walk around like, hey, I can do what I want, I'm, you know, I'm, I'm saved, because, because the Lord will stop you dead in your tracks, he may kill you, he, he may cause you to lose your freedom, um, um, I don't know, but, um, I just, I'm really thankful that, you know, obviously for my brother, for, for leading me to the Lord, and then when he visited me, and he, he, he gave me that, it kind of, it kind of changed, uh, changed a lot of my, my outlook, and not for when I was there, but, but just in general, and, um, so that's, that's all I have, thank you.
[35:48] Okay, well, that's round one, God willing, out of three, and let me just say, uh, not just from my own self, but probably, I think I speak for the church, to the men, thank you, for, what you had to say, for putting some time into that, for taking it serious, that's what's most important to me, that you, take this serious, that you get into the word of God, and you have something to say, that you are assured of, from the scriptures, for all of us to be, amening, along the way, so thank you men for that, uh, there's more to come, Lord willing, in the next few weeks, and, I'm anticipating that even more now, because I enjoyed this tonight, a lot, so, uh, that's all we have tonight, let's, uh, close with a word of prayer, and then send you on your way, and thanks for being here, Lord, we are grateful for the word of God, for how powerful it is, for how true it is, whether we understand, all of it or not, we are, we rest completely, in your words, and you've been very, very good to us, and giving us this book, that not one of us, has shed blood for, very few of us, have even sacrificed, in much of any way, to have this, these precious words, and,
[37:03] Lord, you've spoken so much purity, so much truth, it's even overwhelming to us, and, uh, I pray that, uh, we'd, we'd give ourselves to these words, that we'd fall in love with them, and that they would minister to us, and strengthen us, and embolden us, to do something for you, and I thank you for these men tonight, and for the change you've made in their lives, and for the truth, and, Lord, um, just a few years ago, there wasn't any of these guys here, coming to this church, or some of them, they couldn't even stand up, and say they know they were saved, or that they know that this Bible is pure, and holy, and true, and you've made a change in their lives, and so we are grateful for that, and we're grateful to be able to hear that testimony tonight, and I pray that you'll continue to do a work, in our lives, and in more, bring more people in here, that need the truth, and help us to be faithful, and so we love you tonight, please keep us safe as we go, and bless this church, and each one here, we pray in Jesus name, Amen.
[38:01] Amen.