gathered here in the hall and also those of you who are gathered on the live stream. May the Lord richly bless you as well. The psalmist said in the 91st Psalm, The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty. The Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he has girded himself. The world also is established, and it cannot be moved. Thy throne is established of old, thou art from everlasting. O gracious God, we come to thee, and we have been reminded that thou art eternal, right at the outset, from everlasting to everlasting thou art God. Lord, we're in awe of thee, but also we find comfort in this wonderful truth concerning thee, for thou art always there. And we will come to thee this evening hour. We thank thee that thou art our God, thou hast given thyself over to us. We thank thee there is access through our beloved Saviour. We come to thee, heavenly Father, and we pour out our hearts before thee. We will talk with thee this night. Lord, we pray that thou would talk with us as we turn to thy Word, not only as we read it, but as we sing from thy Word tonight. As we offer praise, do speak to us, we beseech thee. We thank thee for our beloved Saviour and the blessings in and through him. And as we look to the future, we know that thou wilt keep us and bless us and thou wilt see us all the way home. O hear us now. All glory be to thee, blessed is prayer meeting. Answer our prayers, Lord, tonight. Hear us for Christ's sake. Amen. Our first praise is the 66th Psalm. Psalm 66. We're going to sing two portions of the Psalm, two small portions. Psalm 66. First of all, we're going to sing verses one through to the third verse. And then we're singing from verse 8 through to verse 12. Psalm 66, verses 1 through to verse 3, and then verses 8 through to verse 12. We particularly tonight notice this second portion in the Night of Peter. Psalm 66, verses 1 to 3, and then verses 8 to 12, and the tune of St. Andrew, all lambs to God in joyful sound. O lands, to God in joyful sounds, Adopt your light's best rays, Sing for the honour of his name, and glorious may his praise. Shall to God and shall with hope In all thy words of love. Through thy grave path, thy foes to thee Shall be constrained to bow. Ye people blest, our God about! The voices of His praise are so enlightened. Who safe preserves our world from slight disdain. For Thou didst prove and guide us, Lord, As men to silver strive, Broke stars into planets amaze, And on our loins still lie. Thou hast chosen right o'er our heads a throne that we did not pass. Through fire and water yet have brought us to a wealthy place. If you would turn with me tonight to 1 Peter chapter 1, 1 Peter chapter 1 and we're going to read the first nine verses. 1 Peter chapter 1 and the first nine verses. Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ of the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the Lord God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fade if not away reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of God the perisher, that would be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. whom having not seen ye love, in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your sons. Amen. May the Lord add the blessing to the reading of his precious word. Well, tonight we come to one of the most well-known verses in the New Testament, and that's verse 5, 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 5. Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Dear congregation, the wonderful inheritance awaits God's people. After this veil of tears, they will enjoy great joy and happiness in the presence of Jesus. Such delights they will know and such fellowship will be known. What is laid up for God's people? And as we think of this, how blessed we are. We look to the present but then we can look to the final state as we consider these words tonight. What is laid up for us? Just notice verse 4, to an inheritance incorruptible. and undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." You could think of an inheritance here upon earth. It gets smaller. But think of the inheritance awaiting you in heaven. Just those words, that fadeth not away. Not in any aspect of such joy, such eternal bliss, you will know. and no one or nothing will rob you and me of the inheritance. But what do we read in verse 5? Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. We are a kept people, kept by the Lord, therefore we will enjoy the wonderful inheritance reserved in heaven for the people of God. Now there is what we call the perseverance of the saints, the perseverance of the saints, the final of the five doctrines of grace. And as we think of that, the true believer will persevere to the end. In Job 17, verse nine, we read, the righteous also shall hold on his way. What a lovely text. You as a child of God will persevere to the end. Our Lord said in Matthew 24 verse 13, But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. The true believers cannot lose their salvation. They will persevere to the end. Now there are some in the Visible Church. What do I mean by the Visible Church? What does the Scripture mean by the Visible Church? That which we see. Now in the Visible Church, there are those who are named disciples, but they're not true disciples. You think again of John chapter 6. Many of his disciples walked no more. They were disciples in name, but not in truth. Solemn words we have in Matthew 7 verse 21 to verse 22, Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, the great day to come, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? There will be a number Christian in name, but not in truth. And they will say on that day, Lord, Lord, look what we did. Surely we should enter the eternal state in that wonderful place. No wonder Paul wrote to the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 13 verse 5, examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith, prove your own selves. Know you not your own selves, how they Accept ye be retrobates. Examine yourselves. I'm a true believer, you who love the Lord here tonight. You say, well, I believe in Jesus. I did repent of my sins. Yes, at times doubts may arise in my heart and the devil whispers in my ear, but I know Jesus put faith in my heart. He put love within. The true believer cannot lose their salvation. Listen to the Westminster Confession of Faith, it reminds us, they whom God has accepted in his beloved Jesus Christ, his only Son, 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, they will persevere. You may get troubled, you may have doubts in your heart at times, but you will persevere to the end, dear child of God. Why? Because of your saving and the grace of God. You will persevere, and what a comfort we have in our times, who are kept by the power of God, kept by the power of God. Now we think of the lost people persevering and then we consider they are preserved by the power of God. Listen to Matthew Henry commenting on this text. The preservation of the regenerate to eternal life is the effect of God's power. You will be kept, therefore you will endure to the end. You will persevere. Dear child of God, you will never lose your salvation because of Christ and the grace of God. You will hold on your way. Job 17 verse 9. What a comfort these words are. Who are kept by the power of God. With the arm of faith you'll embrace the Lord always. Though at times your faith may appear small, you will always be found embracing him, and the comfort is he has hold of you, and what a grip he has on you, who are kept by the power of God. There was a certain minister who met him. He came here to preach to Reverend John Murray, and the last time he came out one Friday evening, he was struggling. He had doubts in his heart. He questioned, was he the Lord's? The Lord has such a firm grip on him. And though he had many doubts, many struggles, he persevered to the end because of divine preservation. But what a comfort this text is. We haven't got much time tonight, but what a comfort. So full, so much to teach us, who are kept by the power of God. Now I want to be brief tonight and so if we do not make much headway we'll pause and come back to this next time. But first of all consider kept by the power of God, secondly kept in the battle, thirdly kept in the storm, fourthly kept all the way home. Kept by the power of God, kept in the battle, kept in the storm and kept all the way home. And you notice that at the end of the text, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. And the deliverance will come your way at death. You'll be free from sin. And then on the great day, redemption and salvation will be fully applied. There'll be the resurrection of the body, and you'll be welcomed by Christ into the eternal world. And you'll so recognize that you are redeemed because of the Lord. But first of all tonight, kept by the power of God. What comfort do we find in these words? At times the way is hard, we consider the battle and the trial, but the Lord will keep you. And so you will persevere through the fire, through the battle, through the last valley, until you are whole, who are kept by the power of God. You're kept. That's so wonderful, isn't it? Kept by the Lord. Our Lord Jesus Christ here upon earth accomplished redemption. He met the condition of life, so there is the application of redemption. There's a new book just come out, written by the Reverend William Cloud, Bill Willinghys, coming down to this area to Salisbury this coming weekend, and I'm hoping he's going to bring some of his new books. And his new book is a study on redemption. Some of you may have heard of the book by Professor John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Redemption Applied, or William MacLeod, the Reverend William MacLeod has done a similar book. And we think there that the Lord accomplished redemption. He met the condition of life in full. So there is the application of redemption. And so the believer knows life and they will know eternal life beyond the grave and fully enjoy it forever and ever. So therefore, because of Christ, we are kept by the power of God. You will persevere because you will be preserved because there is the application of redemption. A benefit included in the promise of eternal life is preservation. Turn with me to John 10, verse 28. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. You think of the promise of eternal life included plainly there, is preservation. We will be kept because Christ accomplished redemption and we are being kept by the power of God. Our enemies are many and they are great. Our trials are numerous and we find ourselves so weak in affliction. We have one though who keeps us. Nothing but almighty power could keep us. We couldn't keep ourselves, could we? We feel a weakness so often. Sometimes it's a struggle to take another step, isn't it, in front of us? And then consider your enemies. We're so small. We admire David, do we not, before Goliath? But at times when we come up against the Goliaths, we just feel our smallness. We couldn't keep ourselves. We couldn't keep ourselves in the state of grace for one moment. But God is able. We are kept by the power of God. Just consider Him. What power manifested in creation. He spake the word and all this came to be. What a great God He is. So strong is His arm. So mighty is His hand. how he protects us. Just turn again to John 10 verse 28. 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. No man. The strongest man cannot pluck you out of the hand of the Father or the Son. My grandfather Lewis had great hands and they were strong and when I was a boy my little hand just seemed to be swallowed up in his great hand. He would take hold of it, he would shake it sometimes or take hold of it on a walk and when his hand seemed so great and so strong, oh consider the hand that carries you now and the hand that protects you, so strong Let me just illustrate this. You remember the Lord Jesus Christ is the shepherd who gave us the lambs in his arm, Isaiah 40 verse 11. Not just one lamb, but all the lambs, all the weak and the struggling, all the newcomers. And not only them, but all the people of God. He has them as a shepherd in his arm. How great he is. He's carrying us all. every individual who loves the Lord and every congregation and the congregations are so many and the multitude of the Lord's people is a number which no man can number how great God is how great Christ is he's holding us all so strong as his arm he's holding us Isaiah 66 verse 9 which holdeth our soul in light and He's holding our soul. He carries us and He leads the suit of alliance. He holds us. What power belongs to Him? Just think, we're alive physically at this moment because He's supplying the air. We're breathing because of Him. Just consider as you breathe in the air, you're being supported by God and He's holding your soul at this very moment. You will not fall from grace, dear child of God. Think of a life support machine. Someone's in hospital, and they're so weak, and they're being supported by a life support machine. We're so weak, but we have one that is so mighty, who is supporting our souls, who's maintaining the grace within. We are weak but He is strong and what strength belongs to Him and it will never fade nor cease. Deuteronomy 33 verse 27, the Eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms. The everlasting arms. What a comfort and that teaches us that He will always be there supporting us, keeping us, Just focus on the Lord Jesus Christ again for a moment. Remember what he said just before he left this world, Matthew 28 verse 18. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. We think particularly of him there as the mediator. All power to keep you and to keep me, that I might be kept in life, kept in the valley, All power is given unto me. Just listen to Jesus. You'll get there. You're being kept by the Saviour. What love, what grace. He came into this world to accomplish redemption for you and he's keeping you now. We're so blessed. He's the mighty one. For unto us a child is born. until as the Son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God. The Mighty God is your Saviour. And the help you needed in life was laid on him. Psalm 89 verse 19, I have laid help upon one that is mighty. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. The help you needed was laid on him. All the help you needed. was laid on him. The help you need every day was laid on him. And so you'll be kept all the way home. Remember the Lord Jesus Christ in that prayer recorded for us in John 17. He's praying to the Father and he makes known certain things. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I have kept. and none of them is lost but the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled." Those are precious words. You were a gift in eternity to the Lord. And he's looking after that gift. He has such a care. He watches over. You think, children, you're given a gift and you watch over it. You take great care. You put it in a special place. The Lord is looking out to you and he's put you in a special place. Where is that? Near to his heart. Oh what a saviour I have kept and none of them is lost but the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. Consider his powerful and prevailing intercession. Remember he told Simon Peter of a time of difficulty in which Satan would sift him his wheat What do we read in verse 32 following in Luke 22? But I prayed for thee, that thy faith fell not, and when thou convertest, strengthen thy brethren. Praying for Peter, that his faith would not fail. Do you ever struggle with doubts? Does your faith seem small? Remember at that time, if your faith seems small, Jesus is so making intercession that your faith does not fall. And though you may struggle and you're finding it hard to look, maybe in some trial or some battle, his intercession is powerful and pervading, faith will remain with him. Oh, you're kept by the power in these well-known words in 2nd Corinthians 12 verse 9, my grace is sufficient for thee. My grace for my strength is made perfect in weakness, most gladly therefore would I rather glory in mine infirmities that the power of Christ might rest upon me. The power of Christ When you're at your weakness, remember this, the power of Christ rests on you. And though you may be struggling to take a step in front of you, grace will not fail, faith will remain, and you'll hold on your way. What an encouragement, the power of God. When you're struggling, you turn your eyes to Jesus. Turn your eyes to the Lord. He'll keep you. You will persevere. What an encouragement, kept by the power of God. You can look to the future. You can know a little reviving when you are weary, in the battle or in the storm, for all will be well. What a journey tonight. Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come. Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. What grace is grace is sufficient, what power is displayed is strengthening grace. Grace will lead you home, kept by the power of God. We are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the The clock has stopped and I've got no way of telling what the time is. So we're going to carry on next week. But what an encouragement. You're kept by the power of God. And as we will consider next week, you'll be kept in the battle, kept in the trial, kept in the last valley, kept all the way home. And on that great day, salvation will be fully manifested. as there is the resurrection of the body, the redemption of the body, and then as you enter into the heavenly world, when heaven and earth will be one, you will take note how great salvation is. Who are kept by the power of God? And just in closing, notice the second word in the text, verse five, who are. You're being kept now. and you'll be kept among them. It's happening now. The Lord is keeping you in his almighty power. Therefore, you will endure until the end. You'll get to heaven. You'll see Jesus. Amen. Let us pray. O gracious God, we do thank Thee we are a kept people and we are kept by Thy power. No battle will sink us, no storm will send us to the bottom because we are being kept by Thee. O we thank Thee for this comforting and encouraging truth. When we struggle, O Lord, we may even find it hard to pray, we are being kept. O we thank Thee, we thank Thee that there are the arms around us and underneath us and we are being carried at this present time. O Lord, we admire Thee. We thank Thee for our beloved Saviour who came to accomplish redemption and that all the help we needed in the Gospel, in life, the help we shall need in death, was laid on him in eternity before this world was made. we can rest in him, and we can look to the future. Bless these few thoughts tonight. O Lord, may we ponder upon them, that at this very moment we are being kept by thee. Lord, we know our weakness, we could not keep ourselves. We could not take one step in front of another, but thou dost enable, thou dost strengthen, thou dost give us that little reviving. Oh, man.