We've been studying the acronym
TULIP, and I want to preach this morning on the last letter of
that acronym, the P, perseverance. Now there's many that have been
taught the five points that are not saved. Many have learned
those five points. They were baptized, they joined
the church, and then one day God revealed Christ to them.
Salvation is knowing Jesus Christ the Lord. It's not knowing these
five points. So why preach these? Well, it's
through preaching that glorifies Christ, that Christ is going
to reveal himself in his people. And so we preach this gospel,
and this is the gospel. And that's my prayer for you.
I don't want you just to learn these five points. As five points,
I want you to learn Christ. If you know Him, this doctrine
will get its light from Christ and it will down to His glory.
And that's what I desire for you. The subject is perseverance
by preservation. Perseverance by preservation.
Those born of God to believe on Christ shall persevere in
faith to the end because we are preserved by the power of God. The Scripture says, the just
shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my
soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we're not of them who
draw back unto perdition, unto destruction, but of them that
believe to the saving of the soul. Now I want to show you
that believers are preserved and persevere because it's God's
Word, it's His promise. We do so by God's Son, Christ
Jesus, and we do so by God's character, according to God's
character. Now all God's saints shall be
preserved to persevere because God declares it in his word. It's all through the word of
God. And we're gonna persevere and be preserved because God's
promised it. He's promised this of his people.
We read here in 1 Peter 1.5, It says, we are kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. God's word, all through the word,
makes the same declaration. His people are kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. Now, it's by God's power we don't
persevere by our power. There's a lot who teach that.
They say, you know, you have to Be strong in your faith and it's
by your strength that you persevere. Brother Donny Bell used to say
that whenever he was in Pentecostalism, they taught them that it's by
their strength that they persevere and they were so cocky about
it. He said we was confident enough we could swing across
hell on a rotten grapevine and spit in the devil's eye. But
it's not our strength. It's not by us at all. A.W. Pink said that for a believer
to go through this life persevering in faith is a miracle, more of
a miracle than if a man was to carry a lit candle across an
open bay in the midst of a hurricane and keep that candle lit. It's
that much of a miracle. This is a miracle that God's
people will go through this world believing on Christ and persevering
in faith until the end. It's a miracle of God's grace.
We read here, we're kept by the power of God. That word power,
we sing the song, a mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never ceasing. Picture a mighty fortress walled
up to heaven. and believe we're safe inside
that mighty fortress. This word power, that's the meaning
here, is of a fortress. By the power of God, like a mighty
fortress, we're kept by the power of God, we're kept through faith.
Not by our works, we're not We're not to look to ourselves. We're not to depend on ourselves.
We're kept through faith in Christ alone, looking to Christ alone.
And we'll be kept until the end. It says salvation ready to be
revealed in the last time. There's nothing else. We're not
here persevering in faith because there's something else we need
to do to make salvation be complete. Salvation's ready. Christ has
finished it. We're complete in Christ and
He's completed our salvation. It's ready. So God's going to
keep us by His power through faith in Christ to the end so
we can enjoy that salvation. Now, believer, that means your
heart shouldn't be troubled. Don't let your heart be troubled.
You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, God's promised He's going
to keep us. He's going to keep us. We're
gonna stay on Christ by his power. Go over to Psalm 94. I just wanna show you, it's all
through the word of God. I could go, we could be here
all day looking in the scriptures. It's in the words so much, but
we're just gonna look at a few scriptures. Psalm 94, verse 14.
He says here, We're gonna persevere in faith
to the end because God promises us by his word that he won't
forsake his people. Psalm 94 14, the Lord will not
cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. The Lord won't leave his people.
He will not, now that's God's promise, that's his word, he
will not forsake his people. We're his inheritance. We're
his inheritance. and so he won't forsake his inheritance.
You look at Psalm 125, you think of a mighty mountain, strong,
big, strong mountain and how it cannot be moved. Look at what
God says, Psalm 125, 1. They that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. How are we going to abide forever?
Like a mountain. What's going to make us that
strong? Verse 2, as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so
the Lord is round about His people from henceforth even forever. He promises us He will never
cast us off. He'll never forsake us. He promises
us He's round about His people forever. Go over to Zechariah
chapter 2. I was out hunting one night in
the woods and we had some dogs and we were coon hunting and
I was out in the woods and I listened to these dogs run and I scratched
my eye and I walked into something and scratched my eye and it hurt
so badly and I couldn't hardly get out of the woods because
I couldn't see, it hurts so bad. That pupil of your eye, that
aperture of your eye, it's the aperture and it's where the word
came from, the apple, the apple of your eye. Shakespeare was
the first person to coin that phrase, the apple of the eye.
But listen to how the translators
translated this word into our English right here, Zechariah
2A. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, after the glory hath he sent
me unto the nations which spoiled you, for he that toucheth you
toucheth the apple of his eye. He's going to protect us just
like that. You protect that apple of your eye. That's how He protects
His people. And we could go on and on through
the Word. On and on. Psalm 121 7, the Lord
shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going
out and thy coming in from this time forth even forevermore.
We can go on and on. It's all through God's word.
So by his word, we have the promise God will preserve his people.
Now sinner, you're sitting here without Christ. This is only
true of those who believe on Christ. Those that you have to
begin in faith and begin trusting Christ and continue trusting
Christ to the end. This is true of those that begin
in faith. Don't try to save yourself by
your work. Come to Christ and trust Christ
to save you by his works. Whosoever shall seek to save
his life shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose his
life for that one's sake, for his sake, for the sake of that
one that trusts him, Christ said, he'll preserve his life. Christ
will preserve him. He'll keep him. So believe on
Christ, and you that believe Him, continue to believe in Him.
Let me give you one more scripture in Colossians. Colossians, it says in verse 1, It says, verse 22, it says, He's
going to present us holy and unblameable and unapprovable
in His sight, if ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled,
be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you heard,
which was preached to every creature, which is under heaven, whereof
I, Paul, am made a minister. See that? It's not just starting
in faith, is continuing in faith, finishing in faith. Now here's
the second thing. Go to John chapter 6. All God's saints shall be preserved
so that we persevere by God's Son, by Christ Jesus and what
he's done for us and what he shall do for us. Look here in
John 6 and verse 37. He says, All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. He that comes to me I will in
no wise cast out. Now here's why he's going to
preserve his people. It's the will of his Father. Look here. For I came down from
heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent
me. And this is the Father's will,
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone that seeth
the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and
I will raise him up at the last day. Look down at verse 58. This
is that bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers
did eat man and are dead. He that eateth of this bread
shall live forever. Forever. How could he promise
we shall live forever if one were to perish? He won't allow
it. It's the will of the father that
Christ lose not one of his elect that God gave to his son. That's
the will of the Father, and Christ will not lose one. Now go to
your right to John 10, and here's why he won't. Here's why he won't
lose one. It's because we've been redeemed
by Christ, we're gonna begin in faith by Christ, and we're
gonna continue to the end in faith by Christ. Look here in
John 10, 14. He said, I am the good shepherd.
I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, he said, and am known
of mine. And he said, as the Father knoweth
me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the
sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep. Christ laid his life down for
the exact number of sheep. The exact number of the elect
that the Father gave Him. No more, no less. The exact number the Father gave
Him, Christ laid down His life for the sheep. You'll hear, you'll
come across people and they'll make a statement and I always
get this backwards but it's something like Christ's blood is efficient
to save everyone but sufficient to save the elect. Let's keep it simple. Christ
died for the sheep. That's who he saves. He died
for the sheep. There's no efficient to save
everyone. It's sufficient to save some.
He laid down his life for his elect. That's who he laid down
his life for. Why did he lay down his life
for them? Well, the justice of God demanded we die. It demanded
we die. And so he took our place. He
took the place of the sheep. When he says there, I lay down
my life for the sheep. The justice of God demands a
life. The soul that sinneth must die.
He said, I lay down my life for the sheep, in place of the sheep.
That's called substitution. Laying down his life in place
of the sheep. What he accomplished by that?
By laying down his life for the sheep, he redeemed us from the
curse of the law. He redeemed us from the curse.
The curse of the law is the condemnation of the law. He redeemed us from
it. He paid the ransom price and
redeemed us from the curse of the law so that there's now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. He laid down
his life for the sheep. He put away our sins. He brought
in everlasting righteousness for the sheep. That's who he
did it for, for the sheep. And so by laying down his life,
he purchased these sheep. They're his. All his people are
his purchased possession. And so Christ is going to call
his sheep because he redeemed them and he bought them and he
paid their sin debt and he justified us. He's going to call each and
every one of his sheep. Look at verse 24. It says here, Then came the Jews round about
him, and they said unto him, How long dost thou make us to
doubt? It's always with sinners, especially
religious sinners, they blame the Lord. Here, you see how they
blame the Lord? It's the Lord's fault. Why do
you make us to doubt? It's your fault. Why are you
making us to doubt? They'll hear you preach the gospel
and they'll, you're not, how come we can't understand what
you're saying? Why do you make us to doubt? Look at what the
Lord said. Why didn't they believe? He said,
if thou, they said, if thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
Jesus answered them, I told you. I told you. And you believed
not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not because ye
are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal
life. Christ says plainly to them right
here the reason that some do not believe. It's because they're
not the sheep. That's the reason they don't
believe. They're not the sheep. If you listen to religion, Christ
is trying to call everybody. He's trying to call everybody
and people just won't let him have his way. That's not this
Christ. That's not the Christ of the
Bible. The Christ of the Bible is not trying to call all sinners.
Because he did not lay down his life for all sinners. Because
not all sinners are his sheep. Not all sinners are the elect.
See what he says there? The reason you don't believe
because you're not of my sheep. He wasn't trying to call. He
wasn't trying to call. He doesn't try to do anything.
He succeeds. If he was calling them, they'd
come. And that's what he says next. Look here. My sheep hear
my voice, and I know them. See, He's only calling those
that He laid down His life for. He redeemed us, He justified
us, He brought in an everlasting righteousness for us, but we're
dead in sins and we can't believe on Him unless He comes to us
and calls us and gives us faith to begin in faith, to start out
believing on Him. And here's what he does, he says,
my sheep, that's those he justified by his blood, he comes to where
we are and he says, my sheep, hear my voice. He calls his sheep
through the preaching of this word and he makes us hear his
voice. He makes us hear his voice affectionately. He says there, I know my sheep.
By Christ knowing His people, by Him knowing us, He knows us
in power. And His knowing us, Him knowing
us in power is what brings us to believe on Him. He's saying
here that His people are loved by Him with everlasting love,
which has been manifested in their conversion in Him drawing
them to Himself. For whom He did foreknow, whom
He did foreordain, then he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his son and Paul told those Galatians they were
going around and trying to go back to the law and he said now
that you know God or rather now that you are known of God. Well
didn't God know his people from eternity? How did he say now
that you're known of God? There's a knowing that takes
place when Christ calls His people. It's a knowing that is done in
power whereby He enters in and gives you life and that's how
you hear His voice. My sheep hear my voice and I
know them and here's the result. They follow me. They follow me
and I give unto them eternal life. That's always the order. Christ comes and He calls His
sheep He makes His sheep hear His voice, and He knows us experimentally. He knows us effectually. He knows us in power. And when
He does, His sheep follow Him. You follow Him in faith, and
He gives you eternal life. That's always what takes place. So now listen to His promise.
The last part of verse 28. 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's able to pluck them out of my
Father's hand. I and my Father are one. That same power that redeemed
us, calls us. And that same power that calls
us, keeps us. And we're gonna continue to the
end in faith. We'll never perish. He said,
no man can pluck them out of my hand. Let me tell you the
hand we're talking about. Isaiah 40.12 says that he's measured
the waters in the hollow of his hand. The hollow of the hand
is that little cup right there. Not the whole hand, just that
little cup right there. He said he's measured the waters
that are in heaven and in earth and in the seas and the rivers
and all places, the waters he created, he said he's able to
hold them right there in that little cup of his hand. And he
said that's the hand that's got his people. It's holding his
people and no man's gonna plug them out of his hand. That's
a big hand. That's a powerful hand. That's how secure his people
are in him and that's why we will not fall away. Now, let's
look at the last thing here. All God's saints shall be preserved
to persevere because of God's character. First of all, it's
all through God's Word. He tells us all through His Word.
And secondly, it's because what Christ has done for us. It's
God's will that Christ lose none. Christ has redeemed us. He's
justified us. Christ has called us and Christ
is keeping us and His hand is going to Keep us safe and secure
because He's justified us. He can't lose one now. This is
the Father's will. But now thirdly, His character. The character of God demands
we be saved. And I'll show you what I mean.
Go to Jeremiah 32. Jeremiah 32. God's immutable and He cannot
lie. It means God does not change
and God cannot lie. That's his character. So this
guarantees us whatever God promises us is true and it's gonna come
to pass. God does not change and he cannot
lie. Jeremiah 32, verse 37. Now here are seven promises. Seven promises that God makes
to his elect concerning the everlasting covenant. Watch this. Jeremiah
32, verse 37. He says, behold, here's the first promise,
I will gather them out of all countries, whether I've driven
them in mine anger and in my fury and in great wrath, there's
the first promise, I'm going to gather them and I will bring
them again unto this place. The place he brings us to is
Christ. He brings us to faith in Christ.
He brings us to his fold, wherever his local church is that he'd
have us to be assembled and he fitly frames us there. Scripture
says Christ cements us there. He compacts us together, cements
us there. unites us in unity of the faith
and unity of the spirit. He brings us to the place he'd
have us to dwell, in Christ, in the universal church, we're
in his church, but he gonna bring you to his local church and plant
you there with his people under his gospel, under the minister
he's provided, read Ephesians 4, tells you all about it. He
provides the preacher, he provides his people, he fitly frames us
together, unites us in the bond of the spirit. This is what God
promised. Look here, here's the third promise,
I will cause them to dwell safely and they shall be my people.
Here's the fourth one, I will, oh, I'm sorry, here's the fourth
one, they shall be my people and I will be their God. Here's
the fifth one, I will give them one heart and one way that they
may fear me forever for the good of them and of their children
after them. Here's the sixth promise. I will
make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn
away from them to do them good. I will not turn away from them
to do them good, God said, but I will put my fear in their hearts
and they shall not depart from me. And here's the seven. Yea, I will rejoice over them
to do them good and I will plant them in this land assuredly with
my whole heart and with my whole soul. Seven promises of God that
cannot lie and God who changes not. His character, the man. We're going to be preserved because
God can't lie. That's his promise to his people.
He said, I'm the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you
sons of Jacob are not consumed. Well, the love of God. Look at
Jeremiah 31, and look at verse 3. The love of God, it's everlasting
love, and that guarantees us that we will not fall away. Jeremiah 31, 3. The Lord hath
appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. I asked the kids Friday night.
Here they are, all these young ones sitting there. I said, what
does everlasting love mean? They said, it don't ever end. It really means it has no beginning
and it has no end. That's God's love. That's how
He loves. That's why Paul said, who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Nothing. He said, I'm
persuaded nothing shall be able to separate us from the love
of God in Christ Jesus. Whoever God first loved, He always
loves. He doesn't love you today and
then something happens and He starts hating you. He loves his
people in Christ Jesus the Lord. That's where he loves. That's
the only place he loves is in Christ and he never stops loving. I'm going to preach on these
questions here soon, but I'll just give you one of them right
now. If God loves everybody and he's trying to save everybody
and yet some are perishing, then tell me what the love of God
has to do with salvation. Who God loves, God saves. That's just, that's fact. Because
His love's everlasting love. Alright, the faithfulness of
God. Go to 2 Thessalonians. The faithfulness of God. This
is God's character. He's unchangeable. He cannot
lie. God loves everlastingly and He's
faithful. He's faithful and this guarantees
we're going to be preserved and we're going to continue in faith.
2 Thessalonians chapter 3. Look at verse 3. The Lord is faithful who shall
establish you and keep you from evil. And we have confidence
in the Lord touching you that you both do and will do the things
which we command you. And the Lord directs your hearts
into the love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ. See, the Lord is faithful. He
will keep His people from evil. We have confidence, Paul said,
in the Lord. and He's going to make you do
and that you will do the things we command you. We saw in 1 John
what God works in His people, what His love works in His people.
The love of God directs our hearts to obey the gospel. He makes
us believe on Christ and continue in Christ because that's what
He commands us. He makes us abide in the doctrine of Christ in
truth. That's what he commands us. And
he makes us love our brethren and continue together with one
another being fellow helpers of the truth. This is how God's
going to save. So he brings us together to be
fellow helpers to send this gospel out to save others through it
too. This is what Paul said. You go
back and you can read 1 and 2 Thessalonians and read all these commands God
gives and they're summed up in this. Keep yourselves together
and love one another and be fellow helpers to send this gospel forth. That's the sum and substance
of it. And he said, God's faithful. He's going to keep you from evil.
He's going to keep you doing these things we've told you.
And you're not going to perish. So that's how we know we're going
to persevere, we're going to continue in faith. He said in
1 Corinthians 1.8, God shall also confirm you to the end that
you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God
is faithful by whom you're called into the fellowship of his son,
Jesus Christ. If he let one saint, if he just
let one of his saints forsake the assembly where he planted
us, leave the gospel altogether, leave Christ altogether. If he
allowed one of his people to do this, then it would be his
character that would be blemished. It would be his character that
would be blemished. And God will not allow it. This
is the character of God. We're kept by God's very character. Now that's security. The mercy
of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that
fear Him. Israel shall be saved in the
Lord with an everlasting salvation. He calls us into the unity of
the faith. What's the unity of the faith?
It has all this that we've been hearing. It's got all this in
common. It's through Christ's blood, it's by God's power, it's
by his character. He brings us to unite us in the
unity of the spirit. And he tells you now, now forsake
not this assembling of ourselves together. I think about the church
in Arkansas. And our church has been together
for close to 50 years now. And it's like the church in the
wilderness. He calls us together, and Caleb
started out believing, and they went through all that trouble
and all their trials, and they just kept going through that
wilderness. And they look into that cloud,
look into that fire, look into Christ, and we go through this
wilderness, and God keeps us. And some fell away. A lot fell
away in Israel. But you know who was there at
the end and went right into the land of promise? Caleb, the faithful
dog. He was right there and went right
in at the end. That's what all God's people
are going to do. He will not lose one. Philippians 1.6 says,
we're confident of this very thing. He which has begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. This is why whenever Christ asked
his apostles, will you go away? You gonna go away too? This is
why they said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Kept by the power
of God. Let's thank him. Let's stand
together. Father, we thank you that you
don't leave this thing just up to us, that you give us faith
and you keep us. We're thankful, Lord, that it's
according to your word. We're thankful, Lord, that it's
through the blood of Christ, by his fulfilling your will for
your people. We're thankful, Father, that
it's according to your character. Lord, remind us of these things
when we're troubled When we waver and would become weak and fall
aside, strengthen us with this truth and preserve us by your
almighty hand. Help us now to worship. Help
us to truly enter into this and worship you. and help us now
in this second hour, Lord, to praise you, to honor you, to
truly, truly bow to your word and worship you. We ask it in
Christ's name, amen.