Please open your Bibles to 1 Peter 1. I'm going to read verses 3-5 as a starting point for a study on the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints this afternoon. It is a great privilege for me to be with you this afternoon, to worship with you and to minister the word to you. Before you started meeting together as a church, some of you were worshiping at our church, and you may recall that I was preaching through a series on the five points of Calvinism at the time. But the first Sunday you began meeting here, if I have my calendar correct, was actually the Sunday I preached on the fifth point. So when Simon asked me to preach this afternoon, I figured I'd preach on that. I guess perhaps that may help you from being four-point Calvinists only. I don't know. I guess we'll see how the sermon goes. But anyway, it's a joy to be with you this afternoon, to finally be able to worship with you in person. If you're not familiar with the five points of Calvinism, that's okay. They are basically a historic summary of what the Bible says about how it is that God saves us from our sins. There is an acronym that's often used to summarize the five points. It's the acronym TULIP, as in the flower, tulip. The T stands for total depravity, which is about who we are in our natural sinful condition. And then the rest of the points are about how God saves sinners who are totally depraved. You, Unconditional Election, the Father elects us to salvation before creation. L, Limited Atonement, the Son atones for our sins on the cross. And I, Irresistible Grace, the Spirit applies salvation to us in our conversion. But God doesn't leave us there at the beginning of the Christian life. to fend for ourselves on the dangerous journey to the celestial city. No, he stays with us all along the way. And he empowers us to persevere all the way to the end, to the finish line. That's what the perseverance of the saints is about. The saints, that is true believers, will persevere in faith to the end by God's preserving grace. And this is a very encouraging doctrine for us, isn't it? Because the journey is oftentimes very difficult. We go through many dangers, toils, and snares in the Christian life, in this fallen world that we live in. And it's hard. It can be exhausting at times, and we get discouraged. But the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints can greatly encourage us because God is preserving us. He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ, Philippians 1.6. And by his power, not our own, we can persevere all the way to the end. Well, that's what we're going to think about together this afternoon. And we're going to start with 1 Peter 1. But before I read these verses, let's pray and ask for God's help. God, we thank you again for that great promise that you who began a good work in us will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. We pray that as we consider these truths together from your word, that you would give us that encouragement that we so badly need to persevere in the Christian life, despite all the difficulties and the challenges that we may face along the way. Lord, help us to rightly understand this doctrine and to rightly apply it to our lives. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. First Peter chapter one, verse three, I'll read down through verse five. These are the words of God. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Well, as you can see in your sermon notes there on the back of the bulletin, we're gonna look first at some key passages on the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, and then we'll look at a few confessional statements about this doctrine from the Westminster Confession of Faith and from the Canons of Dort, which the five points of Calvinism historically come from. And I'll give some further explanation and application along the way. I want you to notice four things briefly in 1 Peter 1 regarding the perseverance of the saints as we consider first some key passages on this doctrine, especially the fact that once God saves us, we cannot lose our salvation. So let's keep that in mind as we look at these. First, in the second sentence of verse three, Peter says, according to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again. And I think we should note the permanency of that condition. Once you're born again, you can't be unborn. Once you're regenerate, you can't become unregenerate. Once you've been made alive together with Christ, you can't be made dead again. Because God's work of regeneration is irreversible. It's permanent. Since it's done by him, it cannot be undone by us. And it's a great relief to realize that. Second, it continues in verse three, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. meaning that all those who are born again now have a living hope. And that living hope is the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting, which was secured by the resurrection of Jesus Christ himself. That's why it says that we've been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. So as long as he is alive, our hope is alive. As surely as he rose, so too we will rise. Jesus lives and so shall I, we sang together. And this again speaks to the permanency of our condition. Third thing I want you to notice in 1 Peter 1, verse four tells us that we've been born again to an inheritance. that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you." The inheritance God has given us is imperishable. It cannot perish. It is undefiled. It is not and cannot be defiled. And it is unfading. It cannot fade. And it's kept in heaven for us by God. It's in the bank of heaven, we could say, in the vault of God, where neither moth nor rust can destroy and where thieves cannot break in and steal. Fourth, notice what verse five says about us, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. So we are being guarded by God, by God's power, which is infinite, through faith, that is through our persevering faith, which God enables, for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, that is when Christ returns. So all along the way, God is guarding us by his power, and the way is the way of faith, walking by faith, and the end of the journey is the full and final salvation that'll be revealed when Christ returns. Another way we could put this is God guards us in the way of faith all the way to the end. The perseverance of the saints is sometimes called the preservation of the saints, and both are taught in scripture. If we are really saints, if we truly are born again, we will persevere, but we will persevere because God will preserve us. Our perseverance is fueled by God's preservation. We hold on to him because he is holding on to us. What a great encouragement that can be to us. When our grip on Him feels weak and like it's slipping, how encouraging, how stabilizing to know that He will hold us fast. That even in our weakest moments, when we let go of Him, He will never let go of us as His people. 2 Timothy 2 13 says this, if we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself. And so we delight to sing when I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast. We know that we could never keep our hold through life's fearful path, but how encouraging to know that he will hold us fast. God is preserving the saints, and that is what empowers and motivates the perseverance of the saints. If you would, turn back to the Gospel of John, chapter 10, and I wanna show you more briefly a passage in John 10, and then we're gonna go to Romans 8, where we were earlier, and then Jude. These will be brief. But John 10, verse 27, I wanna read down through verse 29. Jesus says in John 10, 27, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." Notice a few things here. First, that Jesus gives his sheep eternal life, not temporary life, and we'll see whether or not they live up to it. No, he gives his true sheep eternal life. And he says that they will never perish. If we are one of his sheep, we will never perish, but we'll persevere to the end. Why? Well, because we are kept safe and secure in the hand of the father and the son. Jesus says at the end of verse 28, no one will snatch them out of my hand. So kids, it's kind of like when you catch a frog, if you've ever caught a frog, or maybe you've been with someone who's caught a frog, and you hold the frog in your hand with your fingers closed over him carefully, or maybe both hands covering him carefully so that he can't jump out, right? Well, that's kind of the picture that Jesus is giving us here. He holds us in his hand safely and securely, and no one will be able to snatch us out of his hand. not the world with all of its allurements, not the devil with all of his devices, not even our own sinful hearts. No one can snatch us out of the hand of the son, and no one can snatch us out of the hand of the father. Verse 29, my father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. So no matter who or what may try to snatch us out of his hand, they won't be able to because it says our father is greater than all. He is greater than every doubt you and I may have. He is greater than every fear we face. He is greater than every temptation that comes our way, every trial that we go through. He is greater than every suffering greater than every sin. He is greater than every enemy that we will ever face, greater than the world, the flesh, and the devil. And no one is able to snatch us out of his hand. He will hold us safely and securely on every stage of the journey until we reach the journey's end. Turn ahead to Romans 8 for just a moment. Romans chapter 8, I want to show you a few verses in Romans 8, starting with verse 1. We read in Romans 8, 1, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and there never will be condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because Christ Jesus took all the condemnation we deserve on himself on the cross. Bearing shame and scoffing rude in my place condemned, he stood, we sing. There was condemnation for him And therefore there is no condemnation for us, for us who are in Christ Jesus, for us who are united to Christ Jesus, union with Christ being a bond that is unbreakable. Then down in verse 29, we read again, as we read earlier, For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. You may have heard before, the Puritan William Perkins called this list of gospel blessings, the golden chain of salvation. and the chain is unbreakable. There are no missing links in this chain. Each link is inseparably connected to the one that came before it and the one that comes after it. And the quote unquote, those are the same those throughout. No more, no less. Every single person God foreknew, he also predestined. And every single person he predestined, he also called. And every single person he called, he also justified. And every single person he justified, he also glorified. The golden chain of salvation is unbreakable, dear saints. And one more, down in verse 35, we read, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? No one shall separate us from the love of Christ. No one, not even ourselves. If death or life can't do it, if angels or rulers can't do it, if things present or things to come can't do it, if powers can't do it, if height or depth can't do it, if anything else in all creation can't do it, then surely we can't do it either. No one will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Turn ahead to the book of Jude. Short little letter tucked right before the book of Revelation. This is the last passage we'll look at before we consider a few of those confessional statements regarding this doctrine. In the book of Jude, there is what we might call a perseverance of the saints sandwich. So children, think of a sandwich. You may have had one for lunch today, perhaps. a sandwich about the perseverance of the saints. Well, what is that? Well, let's look, look at verse one, Jude, a servant of Christ Jesus and brother of James to those who were called beloved in God, the father and kept for Jesus Christ. So this is the top part of the sandwich. It says that as believers, we are kept for Jesus Christ. Now look down at verses 20 and 21, near the end. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. So the top part of the sandwich said that we are kept by God. Now the middle part of the sandwich says that we are to keep ourselves. So God preserves us and we are to persevere. And then right at the end of the letter in verse 24 and 25, we have the bottom part of the sandwich. Now to him who is able to keep you. from stumbling, and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. So that's the perseverance of the saints sandwich. Preservation, perseverance, preservation. We are kept for Jesus Christ. We are to keep ourselves in the love of God and God is able to keep us from stumbling, which he will do so that one day he can present us blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. Well, those are some of the key passages in scripture on the perseverance of the saints. But I want us to look secondly now at some of the confessional statements regarding this doctrine. We're going to consider the brief chapter in the Westminster Confession of Faith on this topic, and then just one paragraph from the Canons of Dort. So if you want to follow along, and I would encourage you to do so if you're able, you can turn to the back of your Psalter hymnal to page 929. page 929 and we will look at chapter 17 of the Westminster Confession on the perseverance of the saints. If you're not familiar with these confessional statements, these are not the Bible. These are secondary to the Bible. They're really summaries of the Bible and the core teachings of scripture that different denominations and local churches agree to as an accurate summary of what the Bible says. So this is the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 17, beginning with paragraph one, which reads, They whom God hath accepted in his beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved. So we can never fall away from the state of grace and salvation and lose that salvation. Rather, we will certainly persevere in that state of grace and salvation to the end. Now, you may be wondering, I'm sure we could all think of someone, sadly, who perhaps made a profession of faith in Christ, but later rejected Christ and no longer professes to be a Christian. So what should we think about their salvation and how does it square with this? Well, it's not that that person lost their salvation. It's probably the case that they never had salvation in the first place. And that's why they're showing by their rejection of Christ, their true colors and their failure to persevere in faith and obedience to the end is evidence of that. In 1 John 2, 19, John says, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us. These false believers leaving the church wasn't evidence that they had lost their salvation. It was evidence that they never had salvation. It wasn't that they were sheep who suddenly turned into wolves. It was that all along the way, they were wolves in sheep's clothing, even if they didn't know it. And now their true identity as wolves was being revealed. As R.C. Sproul once wrote regarding salvation, if we have it, we never lose it. If we lose it, quote unquote, we never had it. When someone professes faith in Christ, it doesn't necessarily mean that they actually possess faith in Christ. We should be hopeful, of course. We should be joyful at their profession. but we should also be biblical. The realness of their faith will be revealed in the fires of trial and temptation over time. Those who profess the faith don't always possess the faith, but those who possess it will persevere in it. And by the way, if you're here this afternoon and you're not a Christian, Please understand that all this about perseverance is about how someone continues in the Christian life. It's actually not about how you begin the Christian life. You don't begin the Christian life by your own efforts, but by forsaking your own efforts and putting all your trust and all your hope in Jesus Christ. Because no amount of effort on our part can erase the guilt of our sins or make us good enough to be in the presence of God, God who is perfectly holy. So as you consider what you're hearing this afternoon, please make sure you understand that what God invites you to do, what he calls you to do, is to begin the Christian life by repenting of your sins and turning in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. And feel free to talk to me or anyone after the service if you have questions about that. Paragraph 2 in the Westminster Confession says, This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father, upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ, the abiding of the Spirit, and of the seed of God within them. and the nature of the covenant of grace, from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof. These are great truths. These are incredibly comforting truths for us as believers because they remind us that our perseverance depends ultimately on God and not on us. And though we of course do play an active role in our perseverance in the faith, ultimately our perseverance depends not on our efforts, but on the unchanging character of God himself. Our perseverance depends not on us, but on the immutability, the unchangeability of the decree of election. Our perseverance depends not on us, but on the free and unchangeable love of God the Father. Our perseverance depends not on us, but on the efficacy and the merit of the intercession of Jesus Christ. Our perseverance depends not on us, but on the abiding of the spirit and of the seed of God within us, and on the very nature of the covenant of grace. See, the certainty and infallibility of our perseverance is not built on the sinking sands of our own efforts, but on the solid rock of the love of the Father and the intercession of the Son and the abiding of the Spirit. Paragraph three gives some important biblical caveats, though, and we need to keep these in mind. Nevertheless, they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins, and for a time continue therein, whereby they incur God's displeasure and grieve His Holy Spirit. come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts, have their hearts hardened and their consciences wounded, hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves. So we're going to make it to the celestial city. God will see to that. However, we can make our journey there more or less difficult by how we conduct ourselves along the way. If we fail to say no to the temptations of Satan and of the world, if we don't mortify or kill the corruption that remains within us, if we neglect the means of our preservation, we can make our journey more difficult. We can fall into grievous sins. We can even continue in those sins for a time. We can displease our father and grieve his Holy Spirit. We can be deprived of some measure of our graces and comforts. Our hearts can be hardened and our conscience is wounded. We can hurt and scandalize others and bring temporal judgments on ourselves. So the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints should encourage us but it shouldn't make us lazy or presumptuous or entitled, thinking that we can do whatever we want because, hey, we can't lose our salvation, so what do we have to lose? The perseverance of the saints is not a get out of jail free card that we keep in our back pocket while we get on with living for ourselves and for this world. No, it's called the Perseverance of the saints, not the presumption of the saints. If we're truly saints, then we're going to persevere. God's preservation of us shouldn't produce presumption in us, it should produce perseverance in us. This doctrine should produce in us godliness and the fruit of the spirit, not laziness and the fruit of the flesh. Speaking of which, let me close our time by reading a paragraph from the Canons of Dort, which is on page... Let me find it here. Looking at page 914. 914, Article 12. So, the Canons of Dort is a document written in the early 1600s, like I said before, from which the historic five points of Calvinism come. This is the fifth head of doctrine, Article 12, and this is about what this particular doctrine we've been talking about should produce in our lives as Christians. This assurance of perseverance, however, So far from making true believers proud and carnally self-assured, is rather the true root of humility, of childlike respect, of genuine godliness, of endurance in every conflict, of fervent prayers, of steadfastness in cross bearing and in confessing the truth, and of well-founded joy in God. Reflecting on this benefit provides an incentive to a serious and continual practice of thanksgiving and good works, as is evident from the testimonies of scripture and the examples of the saints, those saints who have gone before us. The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints shouldn't produce presumptuous, professing, nominal Christians, The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints should produce saints who persevere, not carnal Calvinists, but Christ-like Calvinists, Christ-like Christians. May that be the case with all of us, with all of you dear saints here at Trinity. And I would just encourage you as we draw to a close to seek these things and to pray for these things. that are mentioned here. Pray that the certainty of your perseverance because of God's preservation would be a real root, a true root of humility in your character, not prideful presumption. Pray that it would foster this childlike respect of your heavenly Father as opposed to disrespectful disobedience. Pray that it would promote genuine godliness, true devotion to God in your heart and in your life. Pray that this doctrine would enable you to endure in every conflict, knowing that conflict and tribulation is just part of the journey, knowing that God is with you in that conflict and tribulation. Pray for your prayers. Pray that they would be fervent prayers in light of this doctrine, since prayer connects you to the power source for this perseverance. Pray for steadfastness in cross bearing, in suffering for Christ, and in confessing the truth of Christ, knowing that your inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. Pray for this well-founded joy in God, because no matter what's going on around you or even in you, God will hold you fast. God will hold you safe and secure in his hand. And pray also that considering this doctrine would lead to this serious and continual practice of thanksgiving and good works in your life. Because we want to understand this doctrine, not so that we can ace the theology exam, not that that would be bad, but rather so that our lives can be full of gratitude and full of good works for the glory of God. We want to understand the perseverance of the saints so that we can persevere as saints, so that we can persevere knowing and ultimately resting in the fact that God himself will preserve us to the end. Let's pray together. God, we do pray that you would produce all of these good fruits in our lives. We pray that we would be encouraged by this doctrine as we keep going on our journey, even this afternoon and this evening and in the coming week. And we pray that you would help us to persevere one step at a time by your preserving grace We pray for that in Jesus name. Amen.