Verse 1, Jude identifies himself,
the writer, who he is. And he says two things about
himself in the order of importance. First,
he says, I'm a servant of Jesus Christ. And then he says, the brother
of James. And then he tells who he's writing
to. He's writing to the Lord's people, those who are sanctified,
which means set apart. Sanctified by God the Father. When did He do this? When did
He set us apart? We talked about that last week.
He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Now a lot of people are confused about that word sanctified. I
grew up as a child confused about it. Around a bunch of Church
of God people and all that kind of thing. Some of you may have
had the same kind of experience. And you thought the word sanctified
meant holier than thou. I mean, you know, you men don't
smoke and keep your hair cut short. And the women don't wear
pants and makeup and all that kind of stuff and wear lipstick. And that way, you're sanctified.
They call it sanctified holy, they call it. Well, this verse,
Jude says, Sanctified by God the Father, it's his work. And
it simply means separated, set apart from the rest. Sanctified,
set apart by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ. The word preserved is a beautiful
word. And called, called by the Holy
Spirit in God's time. Our subject this morning is the
perseverance of the saints. You say, well, now what does
that word mean, perseverance? To persevere means to continue
on to the finish line with persistence, steadfastness, constancy, not to quit, to keep on keeping
on, persevere. Historically, God's people have
held firmly to five strong truths, grace truths. And one is the
total inability of fallen man to come to God on his own. I
mean, Adam's sin brought spiritual death to the entire race. And
by nature, humanity is dead to the life of God. You can't talk somebody into
being a child of God any more than you can go out here to the
cemetery and talk somebody into getting up out of the grave.
They're dead. And number two, the unconditional
election of God himself in the matter of the salvation of sinners,
his choosing. Now, election is a big word. It's a beautiful word. And there's
a whole lot of preachers that you'll never hear speak the word. They're more afraid of it than
they are rattlesnake. Even though God's word is full
of it. Election, God's election. What does that mean? Well, you
know what an election is? Nobody just decides to move into
the White House. You have to be elected to get
to do that. See? Well, you have to be elected.
Nobody decides to be God's child. It's by God's election. We say
it's God's election because he's the only one that votes. Did
you ever hear of an election where there wasn't but one voter?
That's how it is. The devil was not a registered
voter. He'd like to be. He's not a registered
voter. You and I were too young to vote.
The world wasn't even created. So it's all up to God. Just whatever
he wants. Whichever way he casts his vote,
that's the winning vote. Election. And then the third
great truth that God's people have held to through the centuries
is a definite atonement. So what does that mean? It means
that Christ's shed blood never potentially paid for the sins
of all men. It never potentially paid for
the sins of any one man's sin. There's nothing potential about
it. His blood definitely, definitely atoned for the sins of all for
whom He died. If Christ paid for your sin,
it's impossible for you to go to hell. Now, a whole lot of
people say, I don't believe that. Well, was Christ a failure? He
was no failure. He come to save His people. from their sins. Of all that the Father has given
me, I have lost none. He ain't going to lose none. The fourth great truth is the
Spirit's effectual call. The Spirit of God calling effectually. Now there is a general call of
the Gospel to repent and believe. It's whatever a preacher should
urge people to do. Repent. Cry to God for mercy. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the general call. But no one has ever been born
again by hearing only the general call. But in the wisdom and the mercy
and the grace and the divine purpose of almighty God, the
good pleasure of his will. His chosen ones not only hear
that general call, but they experience an effectual call, a heart call
that cannot be resisted. All men say no to the general
call. No man can say no to the effectual
call. Why? Because the one doing the
calling is bigger than the ones being called. If the voice of the preacher
is all God's got, he's the one got to talk you
into believing. I can't do it. No preacher can do it. But you
see that effectual call is not the preacher. That's God. And the reason no one rejects
the effectual call and cannot is because the one doing the
calling is bigger than the ones being called. So in the new birth, which the
Bible calls regeneration, and we sometimes refer to as being
saved, The question, does it come by God's power or does it
come by man's permission? Am I saved because I let God
do it or am I saved because he's bigger than I am? If you're his
child, it's because he's bigger than you are. It is God's power that melts
a sinner's heart and causes that heart to cry out to him. effectual
calling. And then number five, and this
is our subject today, the perseverance of the saints. Now, perseverance
continuing on through struggles and sins and sorrows of life,
continuing on through storms and through suffering and through
strife. and disagreements continuing
on through shipwreck and slander and shame, continuing on to the
finish line, perseverance. But now don't miss this. Perseverance
on our part is not possible apart from preservation on God's part. And these are two profound truths
that run side by side from eternity to eternity. God's preserving
and the saints persevering. Jude here uses the word preserved,
preserved, but they run together. God's
preserving the saints persevering. I know people so staunch on sovereign
grace that they accuse us of compromise at the mention of
man's responsibility. Well, that's one-sided. That's
awful one-sided. And I know other people, matter
of fact, I know a lot more people that are so humanistic till they
label us heretics at the mention of God's sovereignty. There is a middle of the road
that we stay in. Both God's sovereignty and man's
responsibility are clear Bible truths. One ditch is as deep
as the other. Stay in the road. God's preservation
and the saints' perseverance. They run from eternity past to
eternity future like the railroad tracks. Mile after mile, around curves, over hills, through
valleys, the tracks stay the very same distance apart. You go over here to the train
track, take your tape measure, borrow one from Jim, and measure
from one side to the other. And you drive a hundred miles,
200 miles, 500 miles and measure that track again and they'll
be the same distance apart. That's the design. That's the
design. And this is God's design. God's
preservation and man's perseverance. Spurgeon said about the railroad
tracks, he said in a long straight, You look as far as your eyes
can see and the tracks seem to come together. They seem to be
not two, but one. Well, our great God who decreed
all this from the beginning and sees every step of the way, he
has no difficulty with any of it. It's all going to work out
just like he purposed it to. All the difficulty is on our
end. All the misunderstanding, all the complaining, all the
protest, all the anxiety, all the unbelief is on our end. God's not having any problem
at all this morning. You want to know somebody with
no problems? Go talk to the Lord. He's the only one. He's the only
one. Our God is at rest in the heavens.
Having done, the psalmist said, whatsoever he hath pleased. Last Lord's Day, we spoke about
salvation commencing with God before the world began. And today
we're speaking about salvation consummating with God. He's going
to get it done. When he's done, it's done. Much religion today thrives on
pressing you to do what God didn't do. Well, he never stopped short.
He finished it. Christ said in the 17th of John,
pray to the Father, I have finished the work. And he cried from the
cross, it is finished. The mind and purpose of God,
it's done. And he's working it out and he's not going to stop
short. Salvation commences and consummates with God. In the words of Hebrews 12, 2,
he is the author and finisher of our faith. He's the one who
drew out the blueprint. That's the very first thing.
And he's the one who drove the last nail. That's the very last
thing. He's the author and finisher
of our faith. And in that verse, Hebrews 12,
2, the little word and is in italics. It literally reads that
he is the author-finisher of our faith. There is no and. He's
one and the same all at the same time. He's the author-finisher
of our faith. Then in the words of Christ himself,
Revelation 1.8, I am the Alpha and Omega. He is the Alpha and
Omega of our salvation. The beginning and the The first
and the last. And for those of you who may
not know, alpha and omega are the first and last letters of
the Greek alphabet. It's like, it's like we'd say
A to Z, alpha and omega. And the thought is not. that
God was there in the beginning, the Alpha, and He's going to
step back in at the end, the Omega. No, uh-uh. He's not the A and Z. He's A to Z. He's the entire alphabet of our
salvation, the Alpha and Omega and all in between. So what a
heresy it is how dishonest dishonoring to God it is, to teach, as some
do, that it is possible for a person to be born again, truly regenerated,
saved by God's grace, and somewhere along the way lose it all and
perish in their sins. That's not such a bad thing for
you because you deserve to go to hell anyhow. What's so bad
about it is it's so dishonoring to our God who started something
he couldn't finish. See? How absurd the thought that a
true child of God could perish in their sins. Well, first of
all, God's children have no sins to perish in. Now we have plenty to be confessed
on a daily basis, but we have none to perish in. All our sin
was placed on Christ. Past sin, present sin, future
sin. And on the cross, he bore it
all away. So we have no sin to perish in. and a real heart consciousness
of that truth will not cause a person to live haphazardly
as if sin is no big deal. Oh, no. But it will cause you
to walk as becometh saints out of a grateful and a tender heart
that God should think so much, should think so much of something
so low down as you are. And then secondly, to contend
that something so great as God's salvation can actually be possessed
and then lost, it is to challenge the very character of God Himself. His holiness says salvation is
a perfect work. His omnipotence says it's a complete
work. His immutability says it's a
permanent work, can't change. His eternality says that it's
eternal life. It's as certain to be forever
as He is to live forever. The only way God's people can
perish is for God to perish. He's made that kind of commitment
to us. None could possibly teach that
man can lose salvation apart from having the mindset that
somehow man himself attained that salvation. There are three positions really,
and I'm trying to hurry along here. Some of you want to go,
but just hold on a few minutes. This is very important. There
are three positions, really, and most so-called Baptists,
especially in our area, are in great error about it. What are
the three positions? Well, number one, that man plays
a great part in being born again, and he also plays a great part
in remaining born again. That's absolutely false, but
it is at least reasonable. If he could do one, he could
do the other. If a man had to say any salvation,
he could decide to walk out of it. That's reasonable. He's on
both sides. Position number two, that man
plays a great part in being born again, but he cannot, no matter what,
lose that salvation. Now that's what most people in
our area believe. It's called themselves Baptist,
but it's inconsistent. They teach that man can get into
the family, but he can't get out. Inconsistent. He can do the one, but not the
other. Now, position number three is
the real truth. That Christ is the Alpha and
Omega. It's not in our power to get
in or out. Of course, anyone whom the Lord
has truly brought in don't want out. And this is the only one of the
three positions that really honors God. Number one said God can get you
in and He can't keep you in. Both sides are yours. Number two says God can't get
you, but He can keep you. One side's yours and one side's
God's. But the truth says God gets you
and God keeps you. Both sides are God's. That honors
Him. That's what that great old theologian
Jonah said. Salvation is of the Lord. All
of it. Not just from the Lord, but of
the Lord. That's what he said. And so this
position alone honors him for who he is. He's not on the campaign
trail pleading for votes. Oh, no. He's the king, marching
through the land, blessing and cursing, saving some by sovereign grace,
damning others in his holy justice. He's God. Salvation, just like physical
death, salvation is changing worlds. There's no coming back. It's a one-way street. It's a
bridge that's crossed and burned behind us. God brings us out,
never to go back. Salvation, if it really is God's
work, is forever. It's forever. Well, I'm just now getting to
the starting place. Three thoughts, biblical thoughts,
blessed thoughts. Number one, God can't lose. That's
what I've been saying the whole time. God can't lose. He is an undefeatable power. John 10, 27 through 29, 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." All what? All men, all demons, all
dangers, all difficulties. My Father is greater than all.
And no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. He's
an undefeatable power God can't lose. He's an unquestionable perfectionist. Hebrews 10.14, for by one offering,
he hath perfected forever. Them that are sanctified, you
say, well, I'm not perfect. Well, I am. I am not in this
flesh. Oh no. Oh no. But Adam in me was nailed to
the cross and he's gone. God sees me in Christ just as
dear to him as Christ, just as near to him as Christ, just as
sinless as Christ. to them that are sanctified,
set apart in Christ before the world began. He's an unquestionable
perfectionist. Nothing God does can be improved
upon. He can't lose. He can't lose.
God is an unfailing protector. 1 Peter 1.5, we're kept by the
power of God. through faith unto salvation. And that little word unto, you
know what it means? It means as far as. We're kept by the power of God
as far as complete and full salvation. He's an unfailing perfect protector. God can't lose. You believe that? I hope you do. God can't lose. Number two, God
can't change. It's a little hard for us to
get a hold of. We're in a changing world of changing people, of
changing minds, of changing weather, changing feelings, but God can't change. He's the
only one that can't. He's the only one that don't
need to, by the way. Malachi 3, 6, for I am the Lord,
I change not. He wasn't talking about his socks
either. He was talking about what I am, who I am, all that
I am. I change not. He can't get any
better and he can't get any worse. His word can't change. What did
he say? He said to you and I, John 5,
24, barely, barely I'll say unto you, he that heareth my word
and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life. That word hath means we've already
got it. And shall not come into condemnation,
but are passed from death unto life. His love can't change. toward His people. Jeremiah 31.3,
Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. His covenant can't change. Jeremiah 32.40, I will make an
everlasting covenant with them, not a timely, everlasting covenant
that I will not turn away from them. Do them good. This is the new covenant now,
not the old. I will put my fear in their hearts. Paul talked
about not being written on tables of stone, but being written in
our hearts. I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall
not depart from me. Oh, I'm so glad I'm part of that
this morning. His calling cannot change. I'm
telling you, God can't change. He can't lose. He can't change.
His calling cannot change. Ain't many people believe that.
Romans 11, 29, for the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance. He don't change. I get so sick
of self-righteous religionists. That's better than some of the
rest of us. I want to tell you something. God never changed
concerning Noah who got drunk. God never changed concerning
Abraham who lied more than once. God never changed concerning
Moses who disobeyed, smote the rock twice. which spoke of Christ
dying. It's almost blasphemy. He never
died twice. God never changed his mind about
David who committed adultery and murder. He never changed his mind about
Jonah who ran and said, I ain't going to get somebody else. God
said, don't have to get somebody else. I got you. And he never even changed his
mind about Peter, who denied him three times and cursed and
said, blankety blank. I don't know him. I'm telling
you for the third time. God never changed his mind about
any of these. But they tell us today, if you
mess up at all, God's through with you. What they mean is they're
through with you. But you see, that's a false God
they're worshiping. Our God don't change. He don't
lose. He don't change. His promise
don't change. John 6, 51, I am the living bread
which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. That's his promise and it don't
change. God can't lose, God can't change. The third thing, and we'll wind
this down, circumstances can't destroy God's child. We have the precept of Psalm
34, 7. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that
fear him, and delivereth them. If you're going to whoop me,
you've got to whoop God. Gonna kill me? Gotta kill God.
Can't do it. Circumstances can't destroy.
Now listen to the profession of Paul the Apostle. You talk
about some circumstances. He had some now. But now let's
listen first to his profession. Philippians 1.6, being confident
of this very thing. Paul is saying, as we would say,
I tell you right now, I believe this with all my heart, way down
deep, this is my gut feeling and you ain't changing me." Confident
of this very thing that he which has begun a good work in you
will perform it under the day of Jesus Christ. Paul is saying
one thing you can count on, God won't quit. Even when you try
to, he won't quit. This is not the profession of
a man who never had any problems. Oh, no. Listen to his problems. Listen to the problems of Paul.
2 Corinthians 4, 8, 9. We are troubled on every side.
I think there's four of them. We are troubled on every side,
yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in
despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down. but not destroyed. Circumstances don't affect God. Listen to the perils of Paul.
You know what perils are dangers, troubles, fears. Listen to the
perils of Paul. Second Corinthians 11, 24 to
27. Here's what he says. He's telling
a little bit about his experience. Of the Jews, Five times received
I, 40 stripes save one. Now the Romans forbid the Jews
to beat anyone with 40 stripes. That was law. They could do 39,
but not 40. And Paul says, they did it to
me. Five times. Forty stripes, save
one. What about that? I got to find that. Forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods. Once was I shipwrecked. No, excuse
me. Once was I stoned. They stoned
him, left him for dead. Thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I have been
in the deep. What does that mean? Well, it
means one time in shipwreck, it was 24 hours before you was
rescued. A night and a day I have been
in the deep. In journeyings often, in perils
of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen,
I couldn't trust none of them. In perils by the heathen, in
perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, I wasn't safe
nowhere. In perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren,
in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, In hunger
and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. I believe I'll give it up. No. Circumstances can't destroy. Listen to me very carefully right
now. Circumstances don't make you what you are. Circumstances reveal what you
are. I get sick of hearing people
excuse their laziness and their unfaithfulness and their hellishness
due to circumstances. Well, due to circumstances, get
out from under that. Oh, my. Circumstances can't stop God's
people. Get this today, men. Get this
today, ladies. If you know God like you profess
to know God, all hell can't stop you. The precept of the Psalms, the
profession of Paul, the problems of Paul, the perils of Paul.
Now let's hear the persuasion of Paul. Listen to this, would
you? Romans 8, 35 to 39. Here's his
persuasion. Well, you think about it, Paul,
after all this you've been through, well, here's what I say. Here's
what he says. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecutions, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or swords
Paul says, no, I've seen all that. And none of that did me
in. Nay, no. In all these things,
we are more than conquerors. Not just conquerors, but more
than conquerors. None of these things can even
come close to stopping God working in our hearts. We are more than
conquerors through him that loved Now he says, here's my persuasion,
for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nothing that's ever happened, nothing that can happen,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature. Did you know
the devil's a creature? nor any other creature shall be able
to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord." What a deal. Circumstances can't destroy God's
child. How did Paul survive? Well, here's
the secret. Here's the secret. The presence
of the Lord was with him, protecting, preserving, working perseverance. 2nd Timothy 4, 16, 17, Paul said,
no man stood with me. All men forsook me. Notwithstanding, that's a beautiful
word. Meaning on the other hand, notwithstanding
the Lord stood with me. Oh, what's his promise to you
and I? the promise of a God who can't lose, the promise of a
God who can't change. What's his promise that circumstances
can't destroy us? Well, Hebrews 13, 5, I will never
leave thee nor forsake thee. Some of you have had friends,
family, companions in life that's made that statement. I'll never
leave thee, but somehow they're gone. But this is God talking. I'll
never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Well, so-and-so said, if
I go this way, they're through with me. God said, I'm not through
with you. I'll never leave thee, nor forsake
thee. And if you believed him this
morning, you could have peace in the time of trouble. Some
of you do. You could have peace in the midst
of the storm. Some of you do. You could have
peace though the world be raging. Some of you do. Where? In the
shelter of his arms. God can't lose. God can't change
and circumstances can't destroy. God's children persevere through
God's preservation. We don't quit because he don't
quit. We can't quit because he won't
quit. You can't quit if you never started. If all of this was Greek to you
this morning, I challenge you to cry to the Lord to deliver
you from your little world. That's got to have your way and
cuss everybody that don't like it and don't agree with you.
Oh no, no. You need to cry to God to deliver
you from that broad way and put you in the narrow way. Broad
is the way that leadeth to destruction. Broad is the way, straight is
the gate. That word straight that Christ used means narrow
and difficult. If you want in with God, there's
more to it than walking down the aisle with some sissified
grin, chomping your gum and saying, do you accept Jesus? Yeah, I
accept Jesus. Then you're going to heaven.
Said who? Said who? This is a hard road. This is
a straight and narrow. Difficult. You better cry to him and work
at it. How difficult is it? Well, think about a camel, big
old camel with humps on his back. Think about a camel trying to
go through the eye of a needle. That was the Lord Jesus Christ
talking. And he said, that's your odds.
That's your odds if you're going to do it yourself. We're at his mercy today. Bless. His holy and high name. But I
am so glad because of what he's done. We cannot perish. We're preserved
forever and we shall persevere. God can't lose. God can't change. Circumstances can't destroy.
Just keep on and keep on. And you say, but, but, but, but,
but, hey, goats do a lot of butting. Sheep follow. We're sheep are
responsible for two things. Hear the shepherd's voice and
follow. Lord, help us to hear your voice
and follow.