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“For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive another spirit which you have not received, or another gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.” 2nd Cor. 11:4

In the last few weeks, we have been dealing with the issue(s) of people receiving another Jesus, another spirit, and another gospel. But as Paul stated in Galatians 1:6-7, “I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.”

So we can gather from these two verses that there are trouble-makers among us; and there are spiritual perverts among us. You might be tempted to say, “Robert, that’s a strong name to use.” I don’t think it’s strong enough to be honest with you. In one place Paul said in Galatians 5 that he wished certain ones who were promoting another gospel would castrate themselves. I’ll bet that wouldn’t set well with people’s political correctness.

I guess that I’ve just got to the place in life where I don’t care what people think anymore, I am going to tell people the truth. I’ve had people scream at me, storm out of meetings in anger, call me a heretic, send nasty emails, etc., etc., etc. I just don’t care anymore. I know what Jesus told me to do, and I’m going to do it. He told me, “Tell them who’s going to really make it, and who’s not…and WHY!!”

Let’s pick up where we left off last week. Last week we showed the real truth about Aurelius Augustine, and his perverted views, beliefs, and teachings. We could have talked about the “Proscription of the Donatists” in 412 when Augustine begun to persecute genuine Christians, and the methods he employed to coerce them to renounce Christ as they saw Him in the scriptures, etc. But suffice it to say; I think from last week’s teaching we saw who the real Augustine really was (from his own letters, books, recorded sermons in written form, and contemporaries of his).

On page 95 of his book entitled Calvinistic Paths Retraced, author Sir Robert Anderson stated, “Nearly all the errors prevalent in Romanism can be traced back to Augustine. The Roman church was molded by Augustine into the form it has ever since maintained. Of all the errors that later centuries developed in her teaching there is scarcely one that cannot be found in embryo in his writings.”

Laurence Vance wrote on p.25 of his book entitled The Other Side of Calvinism: “Augustine was wrong on baptism. He was wrong on philosophy. He was wrong on the Church. He was wrong on the “sacraments” and the nature of the Lord’s Supper. He was also mistaken on the Millennium, hermeneutics, the Resurrection, eternal security, and marriage: WHY WOULD ANYONE THINK HE WOULD BE RIGHT ON ELECTION AND PREDESTINATION?” (capital emphasis his).

And this brings us forward 1,000 years to John Calvin (who by the way called Augustine “the holy father”). The great Church historian Philip Schaff in his History of the Christian Church (volume 8, page 539) said that John Calvin quoted Augustine “far more frequently than all the Greek and Latin fathers combined.”

John Calvin was a very dark man…as far as the color of his soul is involved. Within a 5-year time frame, he ordered the execution of 57 Christians, and banished 76 others. He was called by Bolsec and Audin Galiffe (father & son) “a heartless and cruel tyrant.” On October 27^th, 1553, Calvin had Michael Servetus (a believer and a Spanish physician) burned at the stake just outside of Geneva. And all of this because he disagreed with Calvin’s view of infant baptism (which Calvin received from the writings of Augustine). Servetus said concerning the doctrine, “It is an invention of the devil, an infernal falsity for the destruction of all Christianity.” And John Calvin murdered him in cold blood.

He actually prayed for the death penalty for Christians who spoke out against his Augustinnian doctrines. Calvin had him condemned to an atrocious dungeon with no light or heat, little food, and no sanitary facilities; and then to compound his evil, he had him burned with half-green wood. It took over a half hour for our brother in Christ to succumb to the flames and heat.

If John Calvin was a murderer…and HE WAS; and we know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him…then why would anyone in their right mind think that he had any spiritual insight into the great doctrines of the bible, or could even begin to interpret them for others? He had over 50 Christians murdered!!! And yet people today still want to quote him and esteem him. That is like esteeming Judas Iscariot.

In my study of John Calvin, his life, his beliefs, and his teachings; I’ve come to the conclusion that he was never a genuine Christian, and he went to his grave never repenting of his sins or his crimes against humanity by having 57 Christians killed. He was evil personified!

Up to a few weeks before his death, he held to his “convictions” that he had done the right thing in having all these people executed. If that’s how he felt (and he wrote as much) towards the very end, then he probably died in that same state. Now…can an unrepentant murderer be saved? 1^st John 3:15 and Rev. 21:8 say “NO”.

We had to say all of this and show all of this about Calvin to bring us to his doctrine. How can any of his doctrine be accepted if he was spiritually darkened? He had no spiritual life in him; how then can we accept any of his heretical teachings? He taught “double-predestination” (that some were destined to go to hell, and others were destined to go to Heaven). This flies in the face of 2^nd Peter 3:9 which says, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” If you follow Calvin’s line of thinking through to it’s conclusion, you will see that Calvin thought that Jesus’s atoning work was not infinite. In other words, Jesus didn’t shed his blood for everybody, but only for those who were predestined to be saved. But this is shattered by 1^st John 2:2 which states, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

There is so much more I could teach you about Calvin and his writings…quotes that would make you vomit. He was a vile and detestable man. And I can almost guarantee that his name was blotted out of The Book of Life. He did so much more wickedness than we have space here to write about. The point in all this is that many teachers today hold his views and teach them.

You would be amazed as to who still promotes this “damnable heresy” of OSAS (Once Saved – Always Saved). And they derived it from the teachings of John Calvin, who got it from Augustine.

Concerning eternal life, John MacArthur wrote, “It is a done deal, not a goal we work toward. Eternal life is a present possession, not a future hope.” (The Love of God p.168). The last time I read Titus 3:7 it said this: “That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” So then, this scripture shows that eternal life is a hope. Paul brings out in Romans 8 that hope is future-tense.

I’ve been saying it for years: the two most misunderstood and misrepresented segments of scripture are the last 10 verses of Romans 7, and 2^nd Timothy 2:11-13 which says, “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” Everybody wants to quote the portion that says, “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful”. But they forget about the part that says, “if we deny him, he also will deny us.” People are absolutely blind to what it’s really saying. It plainly says that Jesus is faithful to do what He said He would do if we deny Him…He will deny us. What it is showing is that Jesus is going to back up His word…He’s going to remain faithful to His word. In other words, if we believe not and deny Him, He in turn will be faithful to His saying of denying us.’

Jesus said in Matthew 10:33 and Luke 12:9 that whoever denies Him, He will deny them before His (not their) Father. So then why in the world are people blind to the true meaning of 2^nd Timothy 2:11-13? Could it be that they’ve heard it again and again and again on the radio, on TV, in numerous sermons, and in countless books?

• “If you have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are still a child of God. You may deny Him, but He will never deny you. Though you are faithless, He will remain faithful. And the grace of God, the seal of the Holy Spirit, preserves you permanently. This is called the doctrine of eternal security.” Chuck Swindoll – The Problem of Defection – audiotape YYP 6A (Note: When Mr. Swindoll made this statement, he was the current president of Dallas Theological Seminary).
• “Believers who lose or abandon their faith will retain their salvation, for God remains faithful.” Charles Stanley – Eternal Security: Can You Be Sure? – Page 94
• “A believer may come to the place of not believing, and yet God will not disown him, since He cannot disown Himself.” Charles Ryrie – So Great Salvation – Page 141
• “And even if we stop believing all this, He remains faithful! For Him to renege on such promises would be nothing less than a denial of His own character and fidelity. But, as the apostle points out, He cannot deny Himself.” Zane Hodges – Absolutely Free! – Page 112
• “Eternal security depends on the faithfulness of God.” Robert Thieme, Jr. – Doctrine of Eternal Security – Lesson 186-1 (1981) on 9/25/81
• “The Holy Spirit brought conviction of sin and regeneration to the sinner. He has become the seal of our eternal salvation (Eph. 4:30). We have been received into the family of God. The only ones who could possibly break this seal would be the members of the Godhead. And they have given us their word they will never do this (2 Tim. 2:13).” Robert P. Lightner – Sin, the Savior, and Salvation – page 238
• “The faithfulness of God is the foundation and cornerstone of our hope of final perseverance.” Charles Spurgeon – All of Grace – page 30

There are so many others I could mention here; but space limits it. Here’s the point. Many of these men will freely admit that they have studied the writings of Calvin. They have misrepresented 2 Tim. 2:11-13 to the max!! And I am righteously enraged about it. It takes all of the responsibility off of us and puts it on God. What a cop-out. It promotes loose living. It promotes not being watchful.

Don’t let these men deceive you!! They are perverting the gospel by presenting “another gospel.” Their theology is tainted to the core. One of the most powerful doctrines in the New Testament is “he who endures to the end shall be saved.” So…just who is doing the “enduring” here? We are. So then…what if we don’t endure to the end? We shall not be saved. Romans 11, Hebrews 3-4 plainly bring this out in simple English.

Paul said to avoid these men. Run from them. Don’t buy their books, don’t give into their ministries. Treat them as Lepers. RUN!!! Because your very life (eternally speaking) depends on it. If you walked into a room and found a ticking bomb in it that had 15 seconds left on the timer, what would you do? Would you debate as to whether it was real or not? Would you admire the craftsmanship of the device? Would you try to handle it carefully? NO…you would run for your very life!! Treat these false teachers and their doctrines the same way. It’s a ticking bomb about to go off in a crowded area to cause as many spiritual casualties as possible. This is a deadly matter dear reader. They have secretly presented “another gospel” and millions are standing right next to the “bomb” admiring it.