Back in 1 Peter chapter 1, our
text shall be verse 5, we'll read it again in just a minute.
The title and the subject of the message is this, a kept people,
a kept people. God's people are a kept people. The word is guarded, guarded. They're a guarded people, a preserved
people, a protected people. That makes them, if they're being
guarded, preserved, kept by the power of God, then that makes
them a safe and secure people, doesn't it? As our great shepherd
himself said on more than one occasion, in very plain words,
my sheep cannot be plucked out of my hand. My father gave them
to me, nobody can take them from him. They're in my hand, nobody
can take them from me. This is exactly what David echoed,
the very same sentence, the very same blessed truth In Psalm 124,
121, I'm sorry, he said this, verse 4, the same word, behold,
behold, look up, remember this, behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. When
I felt led to preach from this text as I read or rather wrote
the article in your bulletin day from the same text, That
thought just rolled over in my mind again and again and again.
Last night, before I dozed off, I thought, what a wonderful truth.
What a comfort, what a blessing to know that I'm kept. I'm kept. There's such comfort
in that. David said, the Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy
right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve. I love
the Lord shall, don't you? They're so much better than man's
ifs and maybes and perhaps. 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 and even forevermore. God's people, and aren't you
thankful this is so, God's people do not keep themselves. Remember,
I don't see it too much anymore, for which I'm thankful, but remember
some years ago you would see on folks' car the plate on the
front of their car that would say, God is my co-pilot. God is my co-pilot. Well then
who's doing the driving? If God is just a co-pilot, who's
in charge? Thank God. Sometimes I have to
tell Robin, remind her when we're driving along and she's trying
to instruct me on how to drive. I say, Robin, honey, haven't
you noticed this car's got one steering wheel, one steering
wheel, and it's on my side. I'm the one driving the car.
Salvation is not a joint effort, is it? It's not a joint effort
between God and those saved. You've heard people say, if you'll
take the first step, brother, God will take the rest. The success
of salvation depends on you. If you'll allow God, if you'll
give God a chance, if you'll just be willing. Oh, but that's
the whole problem. That's the whole problem. A sinner
dead in trespasses and sin can do none of those things. No,
salvation, God's glorious salvation is not a joint effort between
God and those who are saved. We didn't take the first step.
Salvation is of the Lord, all of it, all of it, and I'm thankful
that so. The vessel of grace has only
one captain at the wheel, and that's the captain of our salvation,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's read again verse 5
here in 1 Peter 1. You, you who are kept, by the
power of God. What a comfort that must have
been to these suffering, persecuted, scattered believers. You're being
kept by the power of God through faith into salvation ready to
be revealed in the last time. Notice what he says in verse
4, to an inheritance, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and
that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. Though they
had lost much, they could not lose this. The persecution of
Nero could not change this. It could never reach their heavenly
inheritance. It was safe. It's secure. But
what about the in-between time? What about that? What about until
that time, until we reach that heavenly inheritance? of what
use is our inheritance in heaven, reserved in heaven for us, while
we're here in a storm, tossed to and fro on a troubled sea
in the midst of a thousand shipwrecks? What's our comfort there? Our
text gives us the answer to that question. The only answer there
can be, the only explanation there can be, the only way this
can be, you're kept. In the meantime, until you reach
that heavenly inheritance, Until you go to be in that mansion
that Jesus Christ himself has prepared for you and desires
that you be there with him, until that time arrives, you're being
kept. You're being guarded by the power
of God. The inheritance for them and
they for the inheritance. We are guarded in the world as
our inheritance is kept in heaven. It is by the power of God that
both the person and the inheritance are kept. What a mercy. What
a mercy, isn't it? Don't you just love those sweet
words? Kept. Kept. Oh, I like that. Kept by
the power of God. Heaven is kept for us, and we're
kept for heaven. Heaven is prepared for us, and
we're prepared for heaven. There's a double action here,
isn't there, of God's grace. Working in us, you're kept by
the power of God, and working for us into that inheritance
in heaven. I read the story of a believer,
an old believer. He's dying. He's going the way
of all flesh. His family's gathered around
his bed. They ask, what would you like on your marker, on your
grave? He said one word, kept. Kept. I like that, don't you? Kept.
My name, my birthday, by the day of my departure, and then
just kept. Kept by the power of God. Here's
a fact. Here's a fact. We need keeping. There's no true believer that's
going to argue with that. We need keeping. Considering this
world, oh how it allures us. This flesh, the devil, the journey. Oh we sing sometimes, oh to grace
how great a debtor. Daily I'm constrained to be every
moment, every moment of every day. Let thy, let thy, let thy
grace now like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee, prone
to wonder." Oh, aren't we? Aren't we? Oh, we, we know that
it's, uh, prone to wonder. Oh, wretched man that I am. Oh,
prone to wonder. Lord, I feel that this world
still has an attraction. That's what gives the battle.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I
love. Oh, here's my heart. And oh,
take and seal it, seal it for by courts above. It's a fact
we need keeping. And here's another fact. We can't
do it. We need keeping, that's true.
But we cannot keep ourselves. We can't do it. It can't be done. Paul didn't keep himself. David
didn't keep himself. There's no chapter of God that's
ever kept themselves. And here's another sweet fact,
we're kept by the power of God. One old believer wrote this,
preserved by Jesus' wind, my feet made haste to hell. Before
we're called, we've been kept, preserved. We notice we read
here in 1 Peter 1, he said, you were elect, you were elect unto
salvation. But election alone is not salvation. We must be called, we must believe,
we must come to the Lord Jesus Christ. And until that time arrives,
until the Lord Jesus Christ himself calls us out of darkness and
gives us life and faith. Until that time arrives, we're
kept. We're kept. Preserved by Jesus'
wind, my feet made haste to hell, and there should I have gone,
but thou does all things well. Thy love was great, thy mercy
free, which from the pit delivered me. God issued the command, deliver
his soul. He's not going down to the pit.
He's one that I put in the hands of my son. He's one that my son
redeemed. Deliver his soul from going down
to the pit. Why? How? I found the ransom. God says, I found the ransom.
Christ said, I give my life a ransom for many. Before thy hands had
made the sun to rule the day, or earth's foundation laid, or
fashioned Adam's clay, what thoughts of peace and mercy flowed in
thy great heart of love, O God. A monument of grace, that's what
a believer is, he's a standing testimony to God's amazing grace. A monument of grace, a sinner
saved by blood. The streams of love I trace up
to the fountain, God. And in his sovereign counsel
see eternal thoughts of love to me. The Lord hath appeared
of old unto me, saying, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, period. No period, no period. You remember
how it goes. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, therefore, therefore, with loving bands I have drawn thee. All that the Father giveth me,
the Lord said, shall come to me. The Father which hath sent
me shall draw them to me. Such is the tender care of God
over his people that he not only gives them grace, now, by grace
are you saved, but he preserves them unto glory. He preserved
them before they came to Christ. He preserves them afterwards.
Peter calls them to elect. I wonder how many churches you
could sit in these days and never hear that word. Never hear that
word. Oh, believers in Bible, in the
scriptures, they refer to themselves as elect all the time. All the
time. Peter did here. Paul did in his
writing. Peter calls them elect. Oh, what a blessed word. for
the blessed truth. God did this. God did this. Therefore, it can't be undone. Can't be undone. Never can a
child of God, a chosen sinner, an elect sinner, be unelected. It can't happen. God did this.
Romans 11 and 5. Paul says this, Even so then
at this present time also right now. People talk about why God
doesn't come back, and I'll be honest with you, I sometimes
wonder to myself, how long is God gonna let this mess go on? I mean, we're bombarded with
ungodliness, perversion, it's protected, it's pushed on us
day after day after day. There's no, you can't get away
from it. And I sometimes say to Robin sometimes, I wonder
how much longer God's gonna allow this to go on. Why does he, why
does he? Why doesn't he say enough of
this? Send Christ to bring his bride
to glory, to be with their glorious bridegroom forever, and then
do away with this evil world. No, there's only one reason.
Only one reason. Peter talks about it in this
epistle, doesn't he, I think, in the last chapter. God's not
slack. God's not slack concerning his
promise of Christ coming back. Peter said, don't you be influenced
by these mockers and scoffers. They're ignorant that say to
you, where's the sign of his coming? We've heard that stuff
all of our life. Have you ever heard that? Anybody
ever talk that way to you? I'm sure they have. Oh, where's
the sign of his coming? Where is he at? Peter said, don't
be concerned. Just ignore that nonsense. They're
ignorant. Pay no attention to an ignorant
man, a blind man. He says, God is not sly. God's
not stopped concerning His promise, then why hasn't Christ come back?
Because He's long suffering to usher, usher His people, His
bride, His sheep, His children, His elect, not willing that any
of them should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Thank God there is at this present time also a remnant according
to what? The election of grace. That's
always true. That's why this world continues.
God has an elect people he has yet to call. They're kept. They're
preserved until he calls them by his grace. And they'll come.
They'll come. Nothing gonna stop them from
coming. Christ said, they'll come to me. All that the Father
gave me, they're gonna come to me. And when they come to me,
I'll never cast them out. Never cast them out. Psalms 84
and seven, they go from strength to strength. Every one of them
in Zion appeareth before God. Now what Paul, or rather David,
is talking of here is that journey that they were required to make,
the men, the Jews, were required to make to Jerusalem three times
a year. That's in Deuteronomy 16. Three
times a year, God said. Deuteronomy 16 and 16. Three
times in a year should all thy males appear before the Lord
thy God in the place which he shall choose. In the feast of
unleavened bread, that's one time. and in the Feast of Weeks,
two times, and in the Feast of Tabernacles, three times. This
is what David speaks of, one of those journeys in Psalm 84. They go from strength to strength.
Every one of them, don't you like that? Every one of them
in Zion appeareth before God. Every one of them, every one
of them. There were dangers on the road, there were perils,
But every one of them appeared before God, and they God's true
Israel. Every one of them shall appear
before him in his presence in the church above. When Christ
shall appear, they shall appear with him in glory. Oh, behold,
when he shall appear, we shall appear with him in glory and
be like him and see him as he is. How about that? I sometimes try to imagine What
it's going to be like when I see the Lord Jesus Christ? Billy,
my imagination just can't reach that high. What will it be like
when I see Him for myself? Job said, I know that my Redeemer
liveth and when this life's over, when the worms devour this flesh,
yet I shall see God with my own eyes. Oh, that will be glory,
the hymn writer said through me. Every one of them, not one
shall be absent, because he and his great power keeps them. Not one of them shall fail. He
will present them to his Father with these blessed words, Lo,
Father, here they are, every one of them. I'm here, yes, but
my children are too, the children which thou hast given me. Not
one has perished along the way. None have been devoured. None
have been overcome. None became fainthearted and
turned back. Will you also go away? God's
elect one. God's elect one. The whole bands
are assembled, young and old, weak and strong, all answer to
their names and testify to the goodness of the Lord in bearing
them up and bringing them all the way through. So shall it
ever be with the true spiritual pilgrims of God. The grace of
God will always prove sufficient to preserve them. It always has,
safe and blameless to his heavenly kingdom and glory. That doesn't
mean that they won't suffer troubles, they most certainly will. Troubles,
but those troubles shall not overwhelm them. Temptations,
oh yes, but they shall not overcome them. Their spiritual enemies
shall not destroy them. Why? They're kept, they're guarded,
they're preserved by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
Their names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and they
can't be erased. They can't be erased. The Lamb
put them there, and the Lamb himself shall see to it that
each of them is found in the day of accounts. Then shall he
be able to say again, Father, I've lost none. They're all here. Paul said again
in Romans 11, So then, he says, all Israel, not the nation Israel,
spiritual Israel, his people, spiritual Jews, And so all Israel
shall be saved, no matter what. All Israel shall be saved, in
spite of the storms, in spite of the trials, in spite of the
heartache, they all shall be saved. Not one of them shall
perish, don't you like that? Every one of them shall appear
before God in Zion. Not one shall perish, not one
shall be lost, and I'm not talking about a handful. I'm talking
about a multitude. God has elected a multitude of
sinners. There's a multitude Christ redeemed,
and a multitude that no man could number. John saw them in glory.
And the elder asked John, where did they come from? Who are these,
John, that stand before the throne of God and before the Lamb, and
they're waving the palm leaf of victory? They're crying salvation
to our God that set us up on the throne. They're all clothed
in perfect white. John, who are these blessed ones,
these privileged ones? Where did they come from? And
John said, no, no. You tell me, these are they who
came out? You ever sometimes think, oh,
I'm going down for the last time. Oh, this next way is going to
take me out. No, these came out of great tribulation. Yes, they
endured tribulation. Christ said, he promised, in
the world you'll have tribulation. Oh, but glory to his name, as
a testament to his grace, looky there, they all came out. Every
one of them. Oh, they endured heartaches and
trials. They had to battle with the flesh, to battle with the
world, but despite all of that, look what happened. The captain
of their salvation brought them all out. That's why they're here,
John. They came out of the great tribulation
and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb. Yes, all Israel shall be saved. Again in Psalm 84, David said,
the Lord shall give grace and glory. The Lord shall give grace
and glory. Well, if he gives it, I'll have
it. He shall give grace and glory,
both in due time, both as needed, both to the full, and both with
absolute certainty. The Lord has both grace and glory
in infinite abundance, nevertheless. Jesus is the fullness of both.
And as His chosen people, we shall receive both as a free
gift from God, the God of our salvation." These are unconditional
and unqualified declarations of the Most High God. This is
what God says. No circumstances can ever place
the true believer beyond the reach of divine preservation.
The sheep may wonder. There's no maybe about it. The
sheep do wonder, but the great shepherd's responsible for them. He's going to bring them back.
They'll be kept. They'll be preserved. No change,
nothing can alter the fact of this divine certainty. Sickness
will come. Don't we know it? Poverty may
strip us. Satan will tempt us. Inward corruptions
may seem to prevail, but nothing can ever destroy or lead to the
destruction of one single sheep of Christ. It can never happen.
All these things, on the contrary, Paul said, all these things will
work for our good. All these things, like, was it
Jacob that said, all these things are against me? Oh no, oh no. God works all these things for
our good. and His everlasting glory, these
things will only serve to display more manifestly and more gloriously
the preserving hand of our God. Ephesians chapter 2. You know
this. Ephesians 2, but God, but God. Paul said, y'all were once just
like everybody else. Children of wrath even as others.
You deserve God's wrath, and you proved it by the way you
lived, the way you had your conversation, the way you lived in this world.
You were children of wrath even as others. But God, but God,
who was rich in mercy for His great love with which He loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, oh, He quickened us, gave
us life together with Christ. and has raised us up together
and made us set together in heavenly places in Christ. That in the
ages to come, what's he going to do? That in the ages to come
he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. Oh, in the trophy case of heaven,
Christ will display every redeemed sinner as monuments, as trophies
of his mighty grace. Every sinner Saved is a trophy
of God's grace. Every sinner will bear witness
that Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost all that
come unto God by him, that none could snatch them from his hand.
Every sinner saved in this world is a miracle of God's grace. Every sinner, every sinner is
a testimony, an example, proof of the sufficiency, the power
of God's amazing grace. I remember Don saying one time,
someone asked him, Don, don't you believe in miracles? Do you
believe in miracles? Don said, man, I am a miracle.
I am a miracle. Salvation is a miracle. Salvation
is a miraculous work. Man, it's a greater work than
when Christ, when the Lord of Glory created the heavens and
the earth, when He creates a new heart in a dead sinner. Oh, what
a greater miracle is that when He says, let there be light in
the heart of a dead sinner. Salvation is a miracle of God's
great grace. Man, walking up an aisle's not
gonna do me any good, I did it. Repeating the sinner's prayer's
not gonna do me any good, I did that too. Oh, but when God, in
his mercy, said, Larry, live, live, oh, he proved that his
arm is not shortened, that it cannot save. He proved it, because
he reached down his hand for me, and he brought me out. Man, you talk about a pit, a
mess, Lost, oh, my soul, I was so lost. But he reached down his hand
for me. That's a miracle. It took a miracle to put the
stars in place. And it took a miracle to hang
the world in space. But when God saved my soul, cleansed
and made me whole, that took a miracle of his love and his
grace. God's salvation is a salvation
that keeps all by grace who are in grace. Grace chose me. God's election was an election
of grace. Grace put me in the way. And
grace keeps me in the way. And grace will take me all the
way. Grace does it all. Ecclesiastes 3 and 14, I know
that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can
be put to it, nor anything taken from it, and God doeth it that
men should fear before him. The work which God's goodness
began, the arm of his strength were complete, his promises yea
and amen, and never was forfeited yet. Things future, nor things
that are now, nor all things below nor above, can make him
his purpose forego, or sever my soul from his love. my name
from the palms of his hands. Eternity will not erase. Impressed
on his heart, he remains in barks of indelible grace. Yes, I to
the end shall endure, as sure as the earnest is given, more
happy, but not more secure, than glorified spirits in heaven. Because we are kept by the power
of God, and God, who has begun a good work in us, will perform
it into the day of Jesus Christ. The Lord said to those self-righteous
Pharisees that looked down their noses when he was gathering with
publicans and sinners, they said, hey, come here, Peter, Peter,
why does your master eat with publicans and sinners? Remember
what the great shepherd said, what man of you having a hundred
sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and
nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until
he find it? Glory to his name. When the great
shepherd's on the trail of one of his sheep, he won't stop the
search. He won't give up until he finds
that sheep. And when he had found it, he
says, well, if you'll take the first step, I'll take the rest.
When he finds it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. Imagine
that, Christ rejoicing in the salvation of his people. And
when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors,
saying unto them, rejoice with me. For I found my sheep which
was lost. I say unto you that likewise
joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than
over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. Rejoice
with me." Can you imagine somebody saying, now wait a minute, wait
a minute. This might be a little premature. Maybe they won't make
it to heaven after all. Maybe they'll be lost after all.
Maybe we should just wait and see if they make it. No, no,
there's no ifs in the everlasting covenant of grace. It's ordered
in all things and sure. Christ seeks his sheep until
he finds them. And when he finds them, he saves
them. And those he saves, he keeps. And he keeps them until
he brings them home. All the way home. Many years
ago, I don't know how it came about, but I was asked to preach
at a church that did not believe the doctrines of grace. I thought, well, I'll go. I'll
go preach the gospel. And I talked about God's grace,
God's saving grace, eternal grace, everlasting grace, salvation
evermore, that Christ's sheep could never be plucked from his
hand. And there was three old men that sat on the front listening,
and they just hated what I was preaching. And at the door, when
service was over, they would walk by and they would try to
take me to task. And I said, wait a minute, brothers.
Just wait a minute. We just got through singing Amazing
Grace. I noticed you were singing that
song. Y'all don't believe what you sing, because you don't believe
the word of God. Old Newton wrote, through many
dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come. This grace has
brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. You
don't believe that. You shouldn't be singing it.
Y'all ought to shut your mouth if you think I'm a believer.
A true child of God can be saved. Listen to what Jude said. Jude,
the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, the theme that
are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ
and called. And called. preserved, kept,
kept up to the time of their calling. And when they're called,
they're still kept. They're kept every second of
every hour of every day, every day of their life, until Christ
brings them all home to glory and presents them before God
Almighty, His Holy Father, without blame, without blemish, without
any such thing. Glory to His name. That's what
we sang a moment ago. Glory to His name. Who else should
get the glory? Jude closed his epistle with
these blessed words. We'll work to it close as well.
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling. Ooh, that's
a chore, that's a work. Who's able to do that? You are
kept by the power of God. And not only that, he's not only
able to keep you from falling, but to present you faultless. Wow, is that a misprint? and
to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy. Oh, to him, to him, the only
wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty dominion and power
both now and forever. Oh, brethren, what will heaven
be like? What is the final glory of the
saints? It is the best place, that's
our inheritance, the richest inheritance provided by the Father
for the people Christ ransomed and redeemed with his own precious
blood. And when we enter there, we shall
enter as children welcomed to the Father's house." We have
a right to be there. Christ gave us that right. It
will be the best that God can give us. Think of that. The best
that God can give us. He will bestow it upon us who
deserve the least. The best in his power to bestow.
The best savior. The best robe. The best banquet. Everything's ready come and eat.
The best inheritance. It's just waiting our arrival.
It's there now. It's prepared now. It's ready
now. Just waiting the arrival of his people. That inheritance
is reserved in heaven for us and we're being kept below for
it. I like what old John Newton said, when believers after a
long experience of their own deceitful hearts, after repeated
proofs of their weakness, willfulness, ingratitude and spiritual insensibility,
they find that none of these things can separate them, we've
proved it. Oh my soul, how many times have
I proved that God Almighty will never forsake his people. But
old Newton said, they find that none of these things can separate
them from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. He said,
then, then, Jesus becomes more and more precious to their souls. Does he not? More and more precious. The more time goes on, the more
he keeps me, the more grace he gives me and gives me and gives
me more grace. The longer he does not cast me
out, puts up with me, Keeps loving me. Nothing I can do, nothing
I can do can cause him to cast me out. Oh, does he not become
more precious to you that believe? I love these words by the prophet.
But now, thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob. And
he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, fear not. Why? I have redeemed thee. I have
called you by your name. You are mine. When you pass through
the waters, I will be with you. Well, some through the waters
and some through the flood. Some through the fire, but all
through the blood. Some through great sorrow. Some through great sorrow. But
God gives a song in the night season. And all the day long,
he'd give us songs in the night. And this is he promised to you
and I, child of God. When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you
won't be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle
upon you. When thou passest through the
water, deep the waves may be in cold. But Jehovah is our refuge,
and his promise is our hope. For the Lord himself has said
it, he the faithful God and true. When thou comest to the waters,
thou shall not go down. But through, but through, all
the way, my Savior leads me. Amen, amen. God bless you.