Thank you to those of you who
have mentioned to me that you have been enjoying this series
of studies that we've been doing. One or two of you have even wished
that there were a few more and that we weren't getting to the
end of our series. Someone said, why don't you do
tulips? and add an extra S at the end. And someone else thought tulips
from Amsterdam might be good and we could have a title for
everything. I could enlarge the study even
further and possibly take it all the way through until Christmas
time. But all I can say is that I'm pleased that you're appreciating
these doctrines as much as I do. These are the foundational truths
of our understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This isn't an
interpretation of the gospel. It's not a way in which the scriptures
can be construed. It's not a particular slant that
some people have. This is the very truth of God.
This is exclusive. This is distinguishing. This
is particular. These are the truths. If there
was another way to present it, we would go there. But this is
what a faithful reading of the Word of God requires us to settle
upon. So let us turn to John chapter
10. John chapter 10. And I want to
read from verse 1. all the way through actually
to verse 30. So a little bit of an extended
reading this morning, but I trust we will do that. John chapter 10 and verse one. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber, But he
that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and
he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when
he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the
sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will
they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the
voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto
them, but they understood not what things they were which he
spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All
that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the
sheep did not hear them. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find
pasture. The thief cometh not but for
to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have
life and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf
coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth
them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because
he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good
shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the
father knoweth me, even so know I the father, and I lay down
my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power
to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received of my Father. There was a division therefore
again among the Jews for these sayings, and many of them said,
He hath a devil, and is mad, why hear ye him? Others said,
These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil
open the eyes of the blind? And it was at Jerusalem the feast
of the dedication, and it was winter, and Jesus walked in the
temple on Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round about
him and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If
thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you,
and ye believed not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. But ye believed 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, 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. Amen. May God bless to us this
reading from his word. Our study today begins with a
categoric statement which I shall prove from Scripture to be true,
blessed and comforting to the church. And that statement is
this, all the elect of God will be kept by God and will be eternally
saved. This is the doctrine that is
sometimes called the perseverance of the saints and it provides
the final letter for us this morning in our little mnemonic
or our little acrostic tulip, T-U-L-I-P. And as we have thought,
this is the great theme of the Gospel. It was a historical construction
that was put on to the Gospel doctrines in order to make them
clear, understandable, memorable to men and women of their age. But they still speak to us today. And this gospel shows us God's
grace in salvation, in the salvation of sinners, because it shows
us how God supplies every requirement, every need, and that how the
Lord Jesus Christ has supplied redemption and conversion to
those whom the Father has called into an experience of grace. In recent weeks, we have established
the need for grace and we have spoken about tea for total depravity. We have thought about the source
of grace and we spoke about you for unconditional election. We have thought about the means
of grace and how the L stands for limited atonement. We have thought about the enabler
of grace and how the eye speaks of irresistible grace which comes
to us by the Holy Spirit. And today we're speaking about
the result of grace. and how there is a perseverance
of those who have been sanctified by God the Holy Spirit in that
gracious conversion that he imparts. So there we have our tulip and
this doctrine, the perseverance of the saints, is sometimes it
can be seen as having two sides, two sides to the one issue. And we speak about perseverance
and we speak about preservation. So sometimes you'll see it written
or hear it spoken of as the preservation of the saints, but originally
it was the perseverance of the saints, but it's really two sides
of the one issue. There's little value indeed in
trying to tease these two things apart. The child of God perseveres
under trial and testing and the challenging circumstances of
their lives. The child of God perseveres through
those trials. But that is not to say that the
Lord does not preserve us in the midst of those trials. So
while the Lord is engaged in preserving us, the child of God
in his experience feels like he's persevering, he's enduring. We feel the force in our life
of the world. and we feel the force and the
weight of our flesh, and we know the attacks of the devil. And yet, with all that, we cannot
go back on what the Lord has taught us. We cannot give up
what the Lord has revealed. We cannot lay down these things. We cannot Go back, give up, or
lay down in the battle that God has called us to. Asked if we
want to leave, we reply with Peter, Lord, to whom shall I
go? You have the words of eternal
life. And the child of God perseveres
through all of these trials and challenges. And he holds on because
he knows that this is the truth. And though God should bring a
multitude of circumstances against us, where else could we go to
find that everlasting life, that eternal life, which God has promised
to those who follow after him? But the other side of it is also
there, that the child of God is preserved in his trials by
the protecting hand of our Saviour. The Lord has says, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee. And we prove that personally. We prove that as we persevere. So these two things, the perseverance
and the preservation, go hand in hand. They are locked together. because we see the preserving
hand of God as we are called to persevere through the storms
of our lives. In 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13,
the apostle writes, God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be
tempted above that ye are able. but will with the temptation
also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it. There
it is, right there. He doesn't say that you're not
going to be tried, but he says you will be able to bear it.
He will sustain you, He will maintain you. He will cause you
to lean on Him, to rest on Him, to go to Him for that help which
you feel rightly inadequate to apply from your own strength. And indeed, is it not true as
we reflect upon our personal Christian experience that it
is in those times of leaning more heavily upon the Lord that
we have been most blessed, even although the external circumstances
have been most trying for us? And is it not also true that
at times when things are coasting along nicely that we become distracted
from looking to the Lord? Preserving grace brings persevering
strength. God is faithful. Matthew 24 verse
13 says, but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall
be saved. It's the Lord Jesus Christ that's
speaking. And Paul steals the young man, Timothy, his son in
the faith. And he says, and thou therefore
endure hardness. as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Endure hardness. Some of you
guys have done military work. I've never been there, so I guess
in many respects, I would be a big softie. But you guys are
tough because you learn how to be tough. You learn how to steel
yourself in the face of a challenge. You know how to go through when
your body is telling you, go back. And that's what Timothy
is enjoined to do by the apostle. Endure as a good soldier. And James 5, verse 11 says, Behold,
we count them happy which endure. You have heard of the patience
of Job and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is
very pitiful and of tender mercy. Now there are literally hundreds,
hundreds of supporting verses for this Bible doctrine. But
I'm going to take five headings this morning. under which most
of the verses that apply to this doctrine of the perseverance
of the saints can be grouped. But before I take those five
headings, I want to make one statement from John 10, made
by the Lord Jesus Christ, which I suggest to you stands alone
as a truth-establishing proof for this heading, this doctrine. So while I still have your attention.
Actually, I panicked a little bit last night when Mitch started
speaking. I thought he's going to take
my sermon this morning. He was reading from the same
passage. So from now on, all the ideas that I give to you,
I got from Mitch last night. John chapter 10, verse 28. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. There are four clear, emphatic
words there that prove the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.
They shall never perish. shall never perish. They, that
is those to whom eternal life has been given and given as a
free gift of God's grace, it is eternal life. They who have
been given it, they will never perish. They shall never perish. Remember we spoke last week about
the shalls and the wills of God? I shall and you will. This is
God, the omnipotent, the sovereign God of all creation. This is
the God who threw the galaxies and the suns into space, who
created the earth, who did all things well. And he says, they
shall never perish. and never is emphatic. It's certain,
it's sure. It doesn't mean it's unlikely
that they're going to. It means that they most certainly
will not. It's not even possible that they
should perish because they have everlasting life. They have it. It is their present possession. and there is no doubt about it.
So the Lord Jesus Christ, and if I don't say any more today,
and if you don't hear any more, there it is, the perseverance
of the saints is established by this one verse in John chapter
10, verse 28. And if you are a child of God,
if you have faith in Christ, If you trust in the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ as the only ground of your acceptance
with God and look to the blood, that promise is yours. You have
eternal life. You shall never perish. None can perish to whom the Lord
Jesus Christ has given this gift. Romans 6.23 says, And that's
what we do. We believe. We believe the promises. We believe the testimony. We
believe what God has done in Christ. We believe and we are
the recipients of everlasting life. So why is it impossible for the
Lord's sheep ever to perish? Well, here are the five headings,
the five reasons that I want to leave with you today. Number
one, our eternal security is founded upon the Father's election. It is founded upon the Lord Jesus
Christ's redemption. It is founded upon the Holy Spirit's
calling. And it is the everlasting covenant
purpose of the triune God. These are the doctrines that
we've been thinking about in the last few weeks. These are
the very truths that have been part of our study. The fact that that total depravity
speaks of our complete inability and then each person of the Godhead
bringing into this covenant purpose the election of God, the redemption
of Christ, the irresistible converting power of the Holy Spirit, these
three things undergird and testify that the People for whom the
election was made, the blood was shed and the grace was imparted
will most certainly benefit from it. If the church is not preserved,
if the church does not persevere, the sacred trinity must be confounded. Is the Lord Jesus Christ, in
a day to come, going to open the Lamb's Book of Life before
the gathered throngs and multitudes and look down upon its pages
and say, this isn't right. This isn't right. How is that possible? How could
that possibly be conceived of? The Father has predestinated
the church to eternal salvation. Romans 8, verse 28. The Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son, has purchased the church with His precious
blood. Precious blood. Sin-cleansing
blood. He has suffered the most dreadful
horrors of soul. We read that in Psalm 55 earlier. He has endured the accursed death
of the cross. Galatians chapter 3 verse 13. And the Holy Spirit has taken
possession of the victorious risen Christ of the people for
whom he died. And he has entered into the hearts
and souls of the elect, making each willing in the day of his
power. Psalm 110, verse 3. This is God's work. This is the
covenant purpose of God. It is the covenant of grace.
It is the covenant of peace. And it would not be ordered in
all things unsure if it failed to secure the exact
number of the chosen and the bought and the called men and
women of this world. Here's a second reason why perseverance
of the saints is certain and assured. Christ's intercession
for us would be frustrated. We speak of the Lord Jesus Christ's
high priestly office in two different ways. we speak
about that priestly role in the offering of his blood, so that
we see in the person of Christ, that one who came to offer his
blood as a sacrifice before the holiness of God, as the lamb
slain. And that accomplished the covenant
obligations for salvation before the Holy God. That was what was
required. That's what God needed. There
had to be that shedding of blood. Because the testimony of Scripture
is without the shedding of blood there is no atonement, there
is no remission for sins. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
in that priestly role brought in his blood, not the blood any
longer of a goat or a pigeon or a bull, it had to be precious
blood, it had to be holy blood, it had to be Christ's blood. And so the God-man in that priestly
capacity offers his blood. That's one aspect of the priestly
role of Christ. The second aspect of his priestly
role is to intercede for those whom he has represented in his
sacrifice. And that's what the Lord Jesus
Christ is now doing in heaven. He finished, and that was the
declaration, it is finished, His offering of His blood on
the cross. And now He ascends into heaven
and here He intercedes for His people. And the Lord Jesus Christ
is interceding now. John chapter 6 verse 37. says,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. So the Lord Jesus Christ
is now interceding for those who have been brought to him,
given to him in heaven. He has returned to glory and
he intercedes for his people. Hebrews 9.12 Hebrews 9.12 and
24 says, Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his
own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. For Christ has not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us. So he is appearing for those
that he died for. Christ obtained, from these verses
that we've read, eternal redemption for us, and now he appears in
the presence of God for us. Well, who are these us? It's
the elect, it's the chosen, and they are daily hourly, moment
by moment. Brothers and sisters, as we sit
here right now under the sound of the gospel, we are being interceded
for by the Lord Jesus Christ in glory. The hymn writer said, my name
from the palms of his hands, eternity will not erase. If we could lose our salvation,
if we could lose our redemption, then the intercession of Christ
would not be fulfilled and it would not be working properly. The third reason why our perseverance
and preservation is to be believed, is that our union with the Lord
Jesus Christ would be meaningless if it were not for the preservation
of the saints. Now we speak a lot about the
union that we have with the Lord Jesus Christ and if you've been
listening in to any of the sermons that we've been thinking about
from Colossians in recent weeks, you will see how important it
is to understand this union that we have with Christ. Paul has
been stressing it to the Colossians. He has said, we are crucified
with him. We died with him. We were buried with him. We are risen with him. We are ascended with Him and
we are seated together with Him in heavenly places. Such is our
union with the Lord Jesus Christ that everything that He undertook,
everything that He fulfilled, everything that He accomplished
is seen as having happened in us also and we have a part of
it in Him. God's satisfaction with us is
because of what Christ has done for us and we are intricately
united together with the Lord Jesus Christ in all of his works. Now how can someone be in Christ,
dead, crucified, or crucified, dead, buried, risen, ascended
and seated together with him and yet ultimately end up in
hell. How is that possible? How is
that feasible? How could such a person ever
be lost? How could such a person ever
be plucked from the Father's hand? Paul tells us we are Christ's
body. He is the head, we are the body.
1 Corinthians 12, verse 27, now ye are the body of Christ and
members in particular. There is perfection in the body,
there is wholeness in the body, there is comeliness, there is
attractiveness, there is beauty in the body. If that body is
mutilated and separated, If it is brutalised, where is the beauty
and the comeliness in that body? This is the body of Christ we
are speaking about. Ephesians 5, 23, Christ is the
head of the church. He is the saviour of the body. The whole body for whom he gave
his blood and intercedes is eternally safe, is eternally secure by
the will of the triune God and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The fourth reason why we must be eternally secure is that the
promise of the Spirit to be with the Church forever would not
be true if that church could subsequently be lost. John 14
verse 16 says, Now we take that at face value. The Lord Jesus
Christ asks, and the Father consents, and the Holy Spirit commits to
abide with us forever. If one is lost and consigned
to hell, will the Holy Spirit spend eternity in hell with him? What? The very words are so contrary
that it doesn't even bear thinking about. Such a foolish notion. And yet there is no denying that
it is the success of the Holy Spirit to gather and preserve
the church by his effectual call, by his irresistible grace, by
his new life. The new creation cannot revert
to the old creation. Man did not will himself to life
and he cannot will himself to death. Not spiritually. It is not of him that willeth,
whether that is spiritual life or whether it is spiritual death. The fifth. Reason why we are
secure is this. What about all of the beautiful
pictures that are given to us in scripture of the value placed
upon the church by the triune God? Listen to a few. These would all be worthless
and meaningless if one of the people for whom Christ died could
be lost. This is what the word of God
says. The church is the Lord's own portion. It is the lot of
his inheritance. We're not our own, we're Christ's. That's Deuteronomy 32, verse
9. We are his jewels. Malachi 3, verse 17. They shall be mine, saith the
Lord. We are set as a seal upon his
heart and upon his arm. Song of Solomon, chapter 8, verse
6. We are graven on the palms of
his hands and their walls are continually before him. Isaiah
49 verse 16. They are members of Christ's
body and of his flesh and of his bones. Ephesians 5.30, Colossians
1.18. We are the living branches of
the true vine, John 15, 1 and 2. We are espoused to Christ,
who is our bridegroom, John 3, 29, 2 Corinthians 11, verse 2. We are the Lord's building founded
upon the rock of ages, 1 Corinthians 3, 9, Isaiah 26, 4, Matthew 7,
24. We are surrounded by God himself
as a wall of fire. Zechariah 2, verse 5. Their place
of defense is the munition of rocks. Isaiah 33, verse 16. I looked up munition. I thought,
what's that got to do with ammunition? It must be something to do with
ammunition. Well, a munition is a fort or
a fortress. And it used to be for the provision
of all kinds of military supplies. But in time, it just became the
place where what was fired out of guns were kept. And that's why it was called
the ammunition. So in fact, the ammunition is not what you fire
out the gun. It's where what you fire out
of the gun was stored. And that is the fortress or the
munition. that is built upon the rock.
That's what the Lord Jesus Christ calls us. He calls us His fortress
built upon a rock. Their faith is more precious
than gold that perisheth. 1 Peter 1, verse 7. Their hope as an anchor is sure
and steadfast, cast within the veil, whether Christ as their
forerunner is for them entered. Hebrews 6, 19. There they ultimately must behold
the glory which the Father hath given unto Christ. John 17 verse
24. These pictures, these images,
these types, These illusions which we have
in Scripture, they all speak of strength and value and purpose
and promise that God has given to His people. And it is upon
such images as these, together with these other principles of
the everlasting covenant of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
of the work of God the Holy Spirit, of the promises of God, that
the testimony of Scripture stands that the people of God are safe
and secure, having been called, having been redeemed, having
been saved, having been sanctified, we shall persevere to the end
under the preservation of the triune God. All of these pictures
must fall if one is going to be lost. And if one can be lost,
anyone can be lost. And the more I thought about
this, the more I thought to myself, there are so many examples in
Scripture of these verses that could be gone. The Lord Jesus
Christ said to his disciples, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will come again
and receive you unto myself if any of you are still wanting
to come. It's just ludicrous. So much of Scripture testifies
to the fact that he has this all under control. I will come again and receive
you unto myself that where I am there you may be also, because
the Lord knows them that are his. It is inconceivable that
we will lose our salvation when the testimony of scripture and
the doctrine of grace speaks so powerfully for this subject. Let us remember that our perseverance
is not to do with our feelings, but it is to do with God's purpose. And of course, we understand
that salvation is of the Lord. And to be the sovereign is to
be the all-powerful one. To accomplish salvation is to
bestow salvation. and he is omnipotent and he is
omniscient and he is bringing all things together for his purpose.
God in covenant has purposed and we can see the impossibility
of failure when we view the gospel in the light of these truths.
The gospel is particular, it is personal and it is effectual. If we see salvation as the vast
majority of churches today see salvation as being a general
provision, a universal offer, or depending upon the will of
the fallen creature, well, we can see that that totally depraved
creature, then you do have a problem about thinking, will they persevere
until the end? But the problem of the perseverance
there is the wrongheadedness with respect to who God is and
what he has done. Now, some people will say, well,
are there objections to these truths? Well, yes, there are
objections that are made to these truths. And I'm going to deal
with them very quickly. Some people say that these truths
deter holy living. They don't. Some people say that
these truths have scriptural contradictions. Well, there aren't. And some people will say that
these truths will make believers complacent or careless. Well,
it won't. And that's me dealt with the
objections. I want to say one more thing. There is great personal comfort
and encouragement in the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. And it is a doctrine for the
times that we are tried, and that we are troubled, and that
we doubt, and that we question, and that we grieve, and that
we hurt, and that we are at a loss. This is a doctrine to return
to frequently. And I think that is why there
are just so many verses in the scriptures to support our position
and our strength and all that God has done for us. This truth
keeps us. as the Lord has been pleased
to retain us in this world. He has kept us in this world
to serve him. He has kept us in this world
and he leads us to struggle with the challenges that we face in
this life. Disobedience, the weakness of
our flesh. We stumble in our fight with
the old man We're beaten and we're bruised, we're hurt. We
fall into sin. We lose the joy of our salvation. We have manifold doubts. But we shall never fall irrecoverably. And we shall never lose the inheritance
of our salvation. Even as we pass through that
valley of the shadow of death, even as we face the bitterest
experiences of this life, even as we wrestle with the pains
and the hurts of our human existence, these promises are sure and steadfast. Psalm 51 verse 12 says this, Restore unto me the joy of thy
salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit. David knew what
it was to lose a sense of the peace of God. He knew what it
was to lose sight of the crucified Christ. He knew what it was to
begin looking inward and doubt that he was going to be safe
under the hand of God. But in those moments, he went
back to the promises of God and he asked, restore unto me the
joy of thy salvation. When it was lost, he asked for
it back. When he couldn't find it, he
went looking for it. When it was outside of his experience,
he got on his knees before God and he asked for it back. The
Lord Jesus Christ says in Matthew chapter 28, Lo, I am with you
always, even unto the end of the world. Matthew 25, 23, Well
done, good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over
a few things. I will make thee ruler over many
things. Enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord. John 10, 28, and I will give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand. Our benediction this afternoon is another one
of these verses that testifies to the perseverance of the saints. 1 Thessalonians 5, 23 and 24. And the very God of peace sanctify
you wholly. And I pray God, your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you,
who also will do it. Amen.