"They Shall Never Perish!"  

 John 10:28 

      If salvation and eternal life in Christ are the fruits and results of our faith in Christ and obedience to the gospel, then assurance and security are impossible, because man is fickle. Those who preach salvation conditioned upon man cannot honestly preach security to anyone. But if, as the Bible declares, our faith and obedience are the fruits of salvation, the results of eternal life, and the gifts of God, then assurance and security in Christ is well-founded, for the gifts of God are without repentance.

 ARE YOU READY TO DIE?         Matthew 24:42-44 

       In such an hour as you think not Christ will come, either to judgment or by death. And you will be called to meet God in eternity. At God's appointed time, by God's appointed means, you will die. Are you ready? Be assured of this:  No external form of religion or personal righteousness can make you ready for death and eternity . You must give up and renounce all your dead works of self-righteousness and seek the righteousness of God in Christ by faith (Phil. 3:7-14; Rom. 9:31-33).

      Only God, by his free grace in Crhist, can make a sinner ready to die  (Col. 1:12-14). What constitutes readiness for death? How can you and I be made "meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light?" You cannot be ready to die unless you have  REDEMPTION BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST . The debt of sin must be paid. The penalty of sin must be satisfied. The record of sin must be blotted out. The wrath due to sin must be endured. The death owed sin must be executed. The guilt of sin must be washed away. What can do this? The blood of Christ alone (Gal. 3:13; I Pet. 1:18; 2:24; 3:18). You are not ready to die unless you obtain  PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS BY DIVINE IMPUTATION.  It is not enough that your sins be atoned. If you would enter heaven, you must be perfectly righteous and holy in God's sight (Heb. 12:14). That righteousness can never be obtained by the works of sinful men and women. Only God can make sinners righteous.He does it by imputation (Rom. 5:19). Righteousness is not a work we perform for God. It is a work Christ performed for us by his life of obedience as our Representative, which God imputes to us by his grace. If you would be ready to die, you must have  REGENERATION BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD  (John 3:3-8). "Ye must be born again!" Until you are born again by the Spirit of God, you cannot see or enter into the kingdom of God. And you must  RECEIVE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST BY FAITH . Yes, personal faith in Christ is necessary. Without it, no one is prepared to die. Faith is the fruit, not the cause, of life. But without faith there is no life (John 1:12-13). Faith is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8; Col. 2:12). Yet, it is the act of our hearts (Rom. 10:9-10). Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you are ready to die.

Don Fortner