Dr. Harry Allen Ironside on "Eternal Security of the Believer"
Dr. Harry Allen Ironside a great sin-hating, Bible-loving, old-fashioned revival Protestant preacher, though he is NOT a Baptist like I am but he certainly got the fundamentals for BIBLICAL Protestantism rather correct and not just mere diet Roman Catholicism. Here Dr. H.A. Ironside had preached of the eternal security of the believer and so has Arthur Pink who some have accused of teaching salvation by works. John F. Macarthur had quoted some of the great works of Dr. H.A. Ironside on repentance and eternal security. Now for some quotes on that wonderful sermon of what eternal security is all about and NOT according to the angle of easy-believism:
On eternal security:
When we speak of the eternal security of the believer, what do we mean? We mean that once a poor sinner has been regenerated by the Word and the Spirit of God, once he has received a new life and a new nature and has been made partaker of the divine nature, once he has been justified from every charge before the throne of God, it is absolutely impossible that that man should ever again be a lost soul. Having said that, let me say what we do not mean when we speak of the eternal security of the believer. We do not mean that it necessarily follows that if one professes to be saved, if he comes out to the front in a meeting, shakes the preacher’s hand, and says he accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, that that person is eternally safe. It does not mean that if one joins a church or makes a profession of faith, is baptized, becomes a communicant, and takes an interest in Christian work, that that person is forever secure. It does not mean that because one manifests certain gifts and exercises these gifts in Christian testimony, that that person is necessarily eternally secure.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said to the people of His day, as recorded in Matthew 7:21-23: “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; 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 will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Such people then may have been very active in what is called Christian work--they have preached, they have cast out demons, that is, their influence has been such that men and women have found deliverance from satanic power through their ministrations in the name of Jesus, they have professed with their lips, they have accomplished many wonderful works, but they are found in that day among the lost, and when they plead their great activity and their earnestness in Christian testimony, the Lord says to them, “I never knew you.” Notice, He does not say to them, “I used to know you, but you have forfeited My favor and I do not know you any longer.” He says, “I never knew you.”
Obviously the great Protestant preacher, Dr. H.A. Ironside was while he was against easy believism which is demonstrated by a false profession, walking down the islen and professes to be saved that they are saved because they may be false converts which John F. Macarthur and Ray Comfort have stressed in their preaching of true and false conversions. He preaches that a person with etenrnal security has a changed life. They are not mere professors of their faith but rather, they are false professors. In this one, H.A. Ironside stressed out that it was Christ never knew these false professors. Such people were trusting their works for their salvation but their good works were all but a sham and a fake, a work of deceit than a genuine good work coming from Christ.
The Sheep of Christ:
You remember how He speaks of His own in John 10:27-30: ”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. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” Of His own He says, “I know them.” Of these others, in spite of all their activity, in spite of all their accomplishments, He says in the day of judgment, “I never knew you.” That is a very solemn thing. That answers a question that is frequently put to us. I do not know how many times I have had individuals come to me with a hypothetical case like this: “Suppose a man who joined the church, who professed to be saved, who for a number of years was a very active Christian worker, perhaps a Sunday school teacher, perhaps an elder or a deacon in the church, maybe a minister, but after some years of apparent consistent Christian living and helpfulness in testimony he turns his back on it all, returns to the world, utterly repudiates Christianity, and now denies in toto the gospel he once professed. How does that square with your doctrine of the eternal security of the believer?” That does not touch the matter at all. The apostle John tells us how we are to understand a case like that. He says in 1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us,” or literally, “That they were not altogether of us.” That is, it is possible to do all the things that I have spoken of and yet never be regenerated. It is quite possible to join a church, to make a Christian profession; it is quite possible to observe the Christian ordinances, to teach and to preach, and yet never be born again. If one teaches and preaches the truth, it will produce good results and will do men good whether the teacher or the preacher be real or not, for it is the truth that God uses. Of course He can use the truth to better advantage when it is proclaimed by a holy man living to the glory of God than when it is proclaimed by a hypocrite. Nevertheless, God uses His truth regardless of who may proclaim it, and that explains how people may do mighty works in the name of Christ and yet never be born again.
Also Harry Allen Ironside blasted the satanic doctrine of, "Believe once and you are still saved even if you don't believe afterwards." which blasts out notorious Youtube user Jacksmack77's heretical movement and besides, not even Steven Anderson supports such a ridiculous doctrine despite his seldom out of context preaching:
What about Matthew 24:13? “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Weymouth says, “He who stands firm unto the end.”
The writer of this question recognizes that primarily this refers to the great tribulation, but it is a principle that I believe every preacher of the Word should insist on. There is no use in people professing conversion, going forward, raising their hands, going to an inquiry room, joining the church, getting baptized, taking communion, teaching a Sunday school class, doing missionary work, giving their money for Christ’s work, and going on like this for years, and then by-and-by drifting away, turning from it all, denying the Lord that bought them, refusing absolutely the authority of Jesus Christ, and yet professing to be saved. It is endurance that proves the reality of a work of grace within the soul. That is the difference between one who is merely reformed by the teaching of Christianity and one who has been born again. You see this very clearly when you contrast Peter and Judas.
Peter slipped and sinned grievously, but in spite of it all he endured to the end. Jesus said, “I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not,” and though his outward life for a brief period was not what it should be, his faith remained, and Jesus restored him, and he went on to the end of his life until crucified for his Savior. Judas was one of the chosen, he was with the apostolic band but never was regenerated, and so when he sinned and sold his Lord, he turned away an apostate and died a suicidal death. Jesus said of him long before, “Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?” Not, “One of you is in danger of becoming a devil,” but “One of you is a devil.” And we are told: “Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place” (Acts 1:25). Peter was a backslider, Judas was an apostate, and there is a great difference between the two. If a man says, “I am saved,” let him prove it by going on. That is why I say we should not be afraid of the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer. Some say, “But I knew a man who was a wonderful Christian, and now he has given it all up and says he is still saved.” He is only deceiving himself. The next time you see him you tell him that the Bible says, “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” There is no use your carrying on a profession if your life does not prove it to be real. Men can misuse any doctrine.
This is indeed also very real. Looking at this, true Christians DO NOT depart. That is why I would dare say the late Martin Loser King was never saved to start with- he was a die-hard Jesuit-trained agent, a 33rd Degree Freemason... how in the world can such a person be qualified to be a Christian? They were basically sit-in agents for Rome! It practically disturbs me how many so-called Christians were mimicking the fundamentalists then later, end up sliding into apostasy proving they weren't saved. I used to think it's possible for a Christian to foolishly cast away one's faith in Christ but that is not true. Those so-called born again Christians who are now Roman Catholic, Mormon, etc. weren't saved. If they were, how in the world can a true believer who believes in salvation by faith alone in Christ later depart for a system that teaches the opposite? Such a conversion was a sham and false. There was the bedrock that prevented the growth and killed the plant, some had no depth, some had weeds and thorns and never blossomed. But true converts though they may slide at times, however are truly saved. Ray Comfort's emphasis of true conversion, he has also shown how some people actually show they aren't saved. I was widely blessed by his two videos, "True and False Conversion" and "Hell's Best Kept Secret".
In fact, how many people are REALLY not saved? How can I even buy the doctrine of ex-believerism? That's what makes this easy believism doctrine utterly foolish. How can a true Christian depart? Obviously John F. Macarthur and Paul Washer are NOT teaching works salvation whenever they emphasize that true salvation involves a turning away from sin as a result of it. Also, it's the easy believist not the real Lordship salvation preachers (though the term Lordship salvation has not only been misused to label works salvation in the battle of semantics but has been foolishly 100% misused also by some conditional security proponents) that has severely misquoted Ironside's preaching. Look, every Christian can still sin and will sin but the difference is they DO NOT fall away. In fact, Paul Washer was exactly right when he said something like, "It's an utter heresy to say that they have been saved just because they prayed a simple prayer and yet they departed, showed no signs of being born again and have lived wantonly and how dare these preachers preach such unsaved people straight into Heaven?" Sounds like work salvation? To the easy believiest it would but to be honest, eternally secure people can't live the way they want, they've been changed and certainly they will endure compared to false converts.