Crowning Blessing of a Great Inheritance

Introduction: Peter's Commission and Eulogy

0:04 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, March 1st, 1998, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now let us turn together to 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 1, and follow as I read verses 3 through 5, 1 Peter 1, beginning with verse 3. 1 Peter chapter 1, beginning with verse 3. Through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1:14 Let us again pray and ask that God, the Holy Spirit, who guided his servant Peter to pen these words, would be present to give us understanding in them. Let us pray. Holy Father, we come again into your presence thanking you for your exceeding great and precious promises, many of which encourage us. We ask us to believe that when we call upon you, you delight to hear and to answer us.

1:46 And we therefore call again, now specifically praying with the psalmist, that you will open our eyes, that we may behold wondrous things out of your law. That as I seek to open up your word, that I may be able to say that my speech and preaching were not with enticing words of men's wisdom. But in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. And that your people who sit before that word would know the instruction of the Holy Spirit.

2:22 That those who are yet in their sins may know your word working in them in such a mighty way. That even in this hour it may be said of them that they were begotten again by the word of truth, which lives and abides. Which abides forever. Oh God, hear our cry and answer we plead in Jesus' name.

2:48 Amen. In the dismal night of our Lord's betrayal, Peter had uttered his famous words of wretched denial. Three times he said emphatically, I do not know the man. He even sealed his denials with oaths and with cursing.

3:18 But the scripture tells us that within a very short time thereafter, a look from the Lord Jesus, a penetrating, searching look from his master, brought Peter into a state of deep contrition and of penitence. And the scripture tells us he went out and he wept bitterly. And that same gracious master whose look broke Peter's heart, whose look broke Peter's heart, is found a few days later drawing forth from the lips of that same man fresh affirmations of his love to the master. And in the context of those affirmations of his love, the Lord Jesus recommissions this disciple named Peter and gives him those words, feed my lambs, shepherd my sheep, feed my sheep. Well now, some 35 years after these never to be forgotten events, Peter is engaged in one of his two most significant exercises of feeding the lambs of Christ and shepherding the sheep of Christ. He is writing this letter to gatherings of those very sheep,

4:47 scattered abroad in Asia Minor. People who are identified obviously with Christian assemblies, for according to chapter 5 in that letter, he assumes that there are shepherds, elders, under-shepherds laboring in their midst. Peter is exercising that commission given by his Lord with respect to his sheep and to his lambs. And as he begins his letter, he identifies himself as Peter the Apostle, the recipients of the letter in terms of their essential identification, where they were dwelling, their fundamental spiritual privileges, and then he pronounces that word of goodwill in the greetings, grace to you and peace be multiplied. Then as he begins the body of his letter, as we saw last Lord's Day, he breaks out in this passionate, this passionate eulogy, this speaking well of God, in which he is seeking to draw the attention of his readers away from their present circumstances, away from the pressures that are mounting upon them, and even greater pressures that are yet to come, and seeks to focus their minds upon the great salvation that is their possession in Jesus Christ.

6:13 And he does this, because Peter understands that great principle, that it is only as the people of God increasingly understand what they are and possess in Christ, that they will be equipped effectively to embrace and to fulfill what is commanded to them by Christ. And so he sets forth this great salvation in this passionate eulogy, pointing them to the author of this great salvation, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of this great salvation, who according to his great mercy, their initiation into this great salvation, he has begotten us again unto a living hope, and then the dominant features or blessings of this great salvation, the living hope, by the resurrection and the glorious inheritance, the inheritance that he describes as incorruptible and undefiled, and that fades not away, and as the capstone blessing of that inheritance, he says, it is one that has been and continues to remain reserved in heaven for these believers. But no sooner does he open up

The Question of the Heir's Preservation

7:42 those lines of this great salvation, culminating in pointing their attention to this marvelous inheritance that is the possession of all of these elect sojourners of the dispersion, than it is as though Peter gets inside the mind and the heart of some timid, some fearful, some faltering disciple who begins to reason this way. Ah, Peter, you have pointed us to this great salvation. You have pointed us to a salvation that has as its climactic blessing this inheritance firmly and irrevocably reserved in heaven for us, this incorruptible, this undefiled, this unfading inheritance. But Peter, Peter, it is not enough for me to know that the inheritance is safe. I am here in this present world. I am an elect resident alien, but I am living in Pontus.

8:46 I am living in Galatia. I am living in Cappadocia. I am living in the midst of pagans. I am living with a horrible betrayer within my own breast called my remaining sin.

9:00 Peter, I am living in the midst of a wily devil who goes about as a roaring lion seeking to devour me. Peter, it is not enough for me to know that my inheritance is secure in heaven. Peter, what do you have to say about me, the heir of that inheritance? Will I be kept for the inheritance?

9:23 You have told us that the inheritance is safe and secure in heaven. But Peter, will I be kept in order to enjoy the inheritance? For example, back in the days when plying the oceans was dangerous business, before the days of modern ocean liners, often a seaman had no question what his welcome would be when the ship came back to port. He knew there on the shore his wife and his family and loved ones would await for the first sight of the ship breaking up over the horizon as it neared its port.

10:04 He had no question about his reception at his port. His question was, will I make it through the storms, through the shoals, through the rocky areas, through the tempest at sea? His question is, will I be preserved to come to my anticipated welcome? And that's the anticipation that Peter seems to have in the thinking of these believers, for he no sooner points to the inviolable, irreversible inheritance being reserved, and safe, but he now turns to the heirs of that inheritance and says, you are equally safe. And so as we turn to this passage this morning, we're going to consider it as a statement of the preservation of the heirs of the glorious inheritance, the crowning blessing of this great salvation. Let's look at the text together and notice first of all the end of this preservation. He says, who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

The End of Preservation: Salvation Ready to be Revealed

11:24 And the heart of Peter's statement is that you, for whom the inheritance is reserved, you are guarded unto salvation. That's the heart of Peter's statement. You are guarded unto salvation. So the end of their preservation is what Peter calls a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

11:56 Now once again, in the opening words of Peter's epistle, we come upon a gold nugget word in biblical revelation. We've already encountered elect, foreknowledge, sanctification, obedience, sprinkling of the blood, great mercy, new birth, living hope, resurrection, and now we've got another one of those golden nugget words, salvation. Salvation. Salvation.

12:25 This rich biblical word that has a breadth of use in the scriptures. In some context, it refers to God's complete work of rescuing us from sin and its consequences unto all the blessings secured for us by the saving work of Jesus Christ. As one author has expressed it, it has its positive and negative aspects. Negatively, salvation involves deliverance from present sin and future destruction.

12:59 Positively, it includes entry into the fullness of the blessings that God has purposed for believers through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. We must never think of salvation in a truncated way. Think of a man who has been violently taken from his own homeland. He has been guilty or someone has been guilty of the sin of man stealing.

13:26 Against his will and for no righteous cause he has been wrenched loose from his place of native dwelling and all of his surroundings. He has been thrown into a dungeon. He has been shackled. He has been beaten.

13:38 He is under the iron fist of a cruel, narrow-hearted, mean-spirited tyrant. Now, if that man was to be rescued, what would be involved in thoroughly rescuing him? Well, you say he would have to be brought out of his place of incarceration. Yes.

13:51 He would have to have his chains broken. Yes. He would have to be brought out of his place of incarceration. Yes.

13:59 He would have to have his chains broken. Yes. He would have to have his chains broken. Yes.

14:05 He would have to have his wounds healed. Yes. He would have to be nursed back to good health through sound nutrition. Yes.

14:12 But you see, you couldn't say he was fully saved until he was brought back to his original condition, into all the blessed relationships that he once knew, all the associations that were favorable and in his highest interest. And when the Scripture uses the term salvation in its words, in its richest, fullest sense, that's what it's reflecting. God not only delivers us from the horrible effects that sin has brought into our lives and into the human experience, but he brings us unto all of the blessings that in the largeness of his great mercy he has purposed for hell-deserving sinners. And therefore, the Bible can speak of salvation in its three tenses. We have been saved. The dominion of sin is broken.

15:08 The penalty of sin is passed over in those who are united to Christ. No condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. We are being saved and we shall yet be saved. Well, as Peter uses the term here in this setting, in what sense is he using it?

The Nature of This Future Salvation

15:29 Well, look at the text and he tells us. He says that the great end of our preservation is that we might be preserved unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. The focus of the salvation to which Peter makes reference is first of all a salvation already accomplished. He describes it as ready to be revealed.

16:00 And the word ready could be rendered prepared. That's how it's used in Matthew 22, 4 in the wedding feast. The announcement is made. All things are ready.

16:11 Come to the feast. Everything necessary for this lush banquet is already there on the table. It is prepared. Mark 14, 15 when the Lord Jesus goes tells His disciples to go before Him and to prepare the room.

16:28 We are told that they came and found it ready. Everything necessary. Everything necessary for the adequate celebration of the Passover was there. Paul uses it in 2 Corinthians 9, 5 concerning the offering for the needy saints in Judea.

16:46 And he says, I want that offering to be ready, already taken, already gathered, fully prepared when I come. So this salvation, the end of our preservation in connection with this salvation is a salvation already accomplished. It is a prepared salvation. But it is secondly a salvation yet to be unveiled.

17:12 He says you are guarded unto a salvation though it is ready. It is ready to be revealed. To be revealed. And this word revealed means to be unveiled.

17:27 Something is already in existence and it has substance but it is presently veiled from our sight. It is not waiting to be created or perfected. No, it is there. It is perfected but it is veiled from us.

17:45 Think of the laborious task of an accomplished sculptor. And he has spent months if not years in that which will be the consummate expression of his disciplined artistic talent. And ability. And the day comes when it is said that that marvelous work of art will be unveiled.

18:11 And we all come to the place where the appointment has been made for the unveiling. And as we stand there waiting this ceremony of unveiling we see under that drape the basic contours and outlines of this magnificent work of art. Were we to be permitted to go and to feel it we could get some idea of what the work of art will be like when it is unveiled. But as long as the veil is over it we do not see it in its own intrinsic glory and beauty.

18:47 We have some idea of its contours its size its shape what it may be. But we are waiting the unveiling. And in the unveiling then that which was there in its own inherent beauty and glory will be seen to every looking eye. And that is a term used many times with reference to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

19:16 And what it will be at His coming as not only the unveiling of His glory but the unveiling of the full complete glory of our salvation in Him. Peter uses this verb in 1 Peter 5 and verse 1 obviously referring to the second coming. He said, I am a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. And in its noun form he uses it three other times here in his first letter verse 7 that your faith may be founded to praise and honor and glory at the revelation the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 13 set your hope perfectly on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation the unveiling of our of Jesus Christ. In chapter 4 in verse 13 in as much as you are partakers of Christ's suffering rejoice that at the revelation the unveiling of His glory. So when he says that you who are the heirs of this inheritance are being preserved unto a salvation he says that salvation is already accomplished but it is yet to be unveiled and he says it will be unveiled in the last time.

20:44 You are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed when? In the last time. The last in the order of time. When time shall be no more and it points obviously in the light of the other passages where he uses this term either in the verb or noun form to that moment in human history when according to the scriptures the voice of the archangel will sound the trump of God will blow and the glorified Christ himself shall come upon clouds of glory and then this salvation for which all of the people of God are guarded that salvation in the moment of unveiling will be seen in all of its resplendent glory and the scripture says Christ will come to be glorified in his saints in his saints at his coming and it's in this same way that Paul uses the term salvation in Romans 13 11 when he says now is our salvation nearer to us than when we first believed he's speaking of salvation as that already accomplished and that yet to be unveiled

22:11 in the last time dimensions of the saving mercy of God in Christ you see Peter is not thinking of what happens to the believer at death now the Bible has a clear doctrine in answer to the question what happens to the believer at death Philippians 1 21 Paul says I desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better 2 Corinthians 5 8 to be absent from the body is present with the Lord but you see the great focal point the end of our preservation is not the intermediate state we shall be preserved in the intermediate state yes we shall be and our spirits will immediately be in the presence of Christ and our bodies in a way we cannot fathom still in union with Christ will go to the grave then that sleep in Christ yes we fall asleep in Jesus and our union with Christ is not dissolved even in death but you see the great focal point of the believer's hope is not the intermediate state it is the glorious consummation and Peter writing to these to buttress for the trials and pressures they will face says that you who have this inheritance incorruptible undefiled unfading already and continuing to be reserved

The Author of Preservation: God's Power

23:41 in heaven not only is the inheritance secure but you are secure and the end of your preservation is that you will without exception each one enjoy the consummate blessing of that salvation already accomplished yet to be revealed that shall be unveiled in the last time but then notice secondly having considered the end of this preservation what Peter tells us about the author of this preservation he writes who by the power of God are guarded the preposition can be rendered in its most important and most important form for you Greek students as a locative but it's more likely that he's using it as an instrumental preposition that you are kept in the power of God you are kept by the power of God if we think of it in terms of in the power of God then it would bring as the mountains around about Jerusalem so the Lord he's round about these people from this time for them forevermore God himself is the atmosphere

25:10 in which is people live God in Covenant God in redemptive love and mercy or as Isaiah says in chapter 52 in verse 12 to his people he will go before them and he will also be there rear guard so God says I am before you I'm behind you, I'm your left flank, I'm your right flank. And it could be that Peter is pointing to God as the author of their preservation, God Himself. But because he says you are kept in or by the power of God, it would seem more likely to understand his words to point in this direction, that the author of your preservation is God Himself, but God particularly in the exercise of His power. Now we all know what power means. Power is ability to do. It's ability to perform or to accomplish.

26:07 We say of someone he has the will, but he lacks the power. I had a clear example of this earlier, or not this week, but last week. I was in the home of one of our families. And they got a couple of boys, and as you know, boys who are coming to some sense of their identity.

26:23 As boys, realizing that one of the characteristics of manliness is strength, they like to assume they have more strength than they really have. Some of us can remember the first time we found a little pimple here when we flexed our arm. And we felt, well, maybe there's hope someday I'll be a man. Now you may not admit to others, but you remember looking in the mirror when no one else watched to see if you were developing, quote, a muscle.

26:48 Well, in this family, there's a couple of boys beginning to feel their oats. And it's always...

26:53 It's humbling when a 63-year-old man gets on the floor to wrestle with boys, and they find they can't handle him. So I planted myself, all fours, my knees and my hands. I said, okay, guys, just take me down. And they struggled, and they wrestled, and they pushed, and they pulled, and they couldn't budge the old buzzard.

27:12 And then I locked my hands, and I said, all right, separate them. And they grunted, and they groaned, and they pulled, and they sweated. They had the will. I tell you, they lacked nothing of will.

27:25 It was written all over their faces. I mean, this was serious business. There was one problem. They lacked the power.

27:32 They had the will, but they had no power. Now, a couple of years from now, that will greatly change. I know when to quit when I'm ahead. You see, we all understand what power is.

27:45 It has to do with ability to perform. It has to do with ability to accomplish. And this power is not some energy that is divorced from God himself. It is an attribute of God himself in action on behalf of his people.

28:03 And so, as Peter writes to these distressed saints there in Asia Minor, having, as it were, put a clint in their eye as he fixes the eye of the soul upon the inheritance that awaits them, and says that inheritance is there, incorruptible, undefiled, unfading, it's reserved in heaven, he says to the most timid, don't be fearful. You, the heirs of the inheritance, will be kept to enjoy the inheritance because the author of your preservation is God himself. God in the exercise of his gracious power. God actively committed to accomplish all of his saving purposes. You see, the apostle understood this well when he threw out the challenge in Romans 8.31. What then?

28:56 What then shall we say to these things if God before us, who is against us? And so, in this great salvation, Peter, who has pointed us to the great mercy of God that shapes all the contours of our salvation, now says mercy is joined to power in the effecting of that salvation on behalf of all for whom it was promised. So the end of their preservation, it is a salvation to be revealed in the last time. The author of this preservation is God in the exercise of his gracious power.

The Nature of Preservation: Guarded by God

29:40 But now notice, thirdly, the nature of this preservation. Our text says, who by the power of God are guarded, are guarded. And if you were living out there in Asia Minor, and on a given Lord, one of the readers, one of the leaders, one of the pastors were to stand and read this epistle, the moment you heard the word guarded, your mind would have shifted into a military mentality. This is the word that these people would have heard to describe a military siege.

30:18 When a town was either protected by a military garrison, or was being sieged, by a military power, this is the word they would have heard many times. And Peter uses this word to underscore the nature of this preservation. This is the word found in 2 Corinthians 11.32.

30:42 Perhaps you want to turn there with me, where Paul is giving his badges of honor as an apostle, and all of the things that he underwent in the service of Christ, and as a captain, and as a captain of the ship of the ark of the ark, and as a captain of the ark of the ark of the ark, and as a captain of the ark of the ark, and as a captain of the ark, and as a captain of the ark, 2 Corinthians 11.32. And in Damascus, the governor under Aretas the king, here's our word, guarded the city of Damascus in order to take me. And through a window I was let down in a basket by the wall and escaped his hands.

31:20 Here's our word. Under Aretas the king guarded the city of Damascus. Set a guard to keep me from going down. Here's our word.

31:28 keep Paul in. He did not want Paul getting out. So he set a guard to keep him in. And we are told by those who have studied this word in its secular usage, it was also used not only to describe a military operation to keep someone in, but to protect people within a given framework. It's used metaphorically that way in our well-known words of Philippians 4-7, and the peace of God that passes all understanding shall keep, shall guard, there's our word, shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. There the protection is set around us so that all within will be undisturbed. So it's a military concept. So what is the nature of this preservation? It is to be understood if God himself, in the plenitude of his gracious

32:24 power, will keep you in. So it's a military concept. So what is the nature of this preservation? It is to be understood if God himself, in the plenitude of his gracious power, will keep you in. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept.

32:27 So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept.

32:30 So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept. So it's a military concept.

32:33 from without and from within. Now, if you have a competent garrison of soldiers protecting the city, the weakest child and the most trembling woman is as safe as the most courageous and strong man, because the safety does not depend on the strength of the citizen, but on the competence of the protector. And Peter says to these saints, among them no doubt the Mr. Fearing, the Mr. Ready to Halt, the timid ones, the fearful ones, the weak ones, he said, look, you're being kept and preserved as the heirs for that preserved inheritance ultimately has nothing to do with your strength, but with the power of God committed to guard you,

33:31 to protect you, to preserve you unto that inheritance. So the nature of the preservation is one to be understood in those military concepts of God himself in his supreme but gracious and merciful power committed to the preservation of every heir of that inheritance. But then having looked at the end of their preservation, the author, the nature, now notice, the means of this preservation. Our text says they are guarded by the power of God through faith. Not apart from faith, but Peter's very careful in the way he writes, not on account of faith. You have heard, and I trust you remember, that whenever the scripture says we are justified by faith, a construction is used that does not mean we are justified on account.

The Means of Preservation: Through Faith

34:34 of faith, but through faith, or by means of faith, or out of faith, but never on account of faith, as though faith is the ground of our salvation. No, it is the divinely appointed means to lay hold of a salvation that is grounded in the work of another, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Well, Peter uses the same construction, and he writes saying we are kept by the power of God through, by means of faith. You see, while God's efficacious power is the agent of our preservation, we are not preserved as animals in a cage, or prisoners in a cell.

35:19 We are preserved in keeping with what we are as free moral agents, renewed by the Holy Spirit, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and the God whose power has been operative, to bring us to new birth, thereby bringing us to faith, the God who creates that faith, sustains it by his power, and the evidence that he is keeping us in his power, is that we are kept in the way of faith. We are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. We are guarded as this God, who brought us to faith, causes us to continue in the way of faith, and faith is not our achievement, but a whole soul trust in God's achievement. It is the empty hand of human need, laying hold of the outstretched hand of divine provision. That's what faith is, the empty hand of human need, reaching out to take hold of the gracious hand, the outstretched hand of God's gracious omnipotence. John Bradshaw.

36:34 John Brown has made a helpful comment on this means of our preservation. I quote him, It is through the persevering belief of the truth that the Christian is, by divine influence, preserved from falling, and kept in possession both of that state and character, which are absolutely necessary to the enjoyment of the heavenly inheritance. You see, the Bible teaches that only the, only the holy will enter heaven. Only those who pursue holiness will enter heaven.

37:11 Only those who love their brethren. Only those who mortify their sins. John Brown is saying, that character and that state which God's word everywhere says is the only consistent state and character with those who are going to attain the heavenly inheritance. It is all shaped and formed by belief in God's word.

37:35 And God's power keeps us by continuing to produce in us that faith which is unto this consummate salvation. And I wonder, and several of the commentators picked up this thread, I wonder if Peter is not here remembering his own experience. When the Lord Jesus said to him in Luke 22, Simon, Satan's desired all of you to sift you as wheat, but I've prayed for you. In particular, Simon, and I'm just reflecting by paraphrase, the nuances in the original.

38:12 I've prayed in particular for you, Simon, that your what fail, not that your faith fail. Not I've prayed for you that your faith fail, not if faith were to fail, Simon, you would not be preserved by the power of God. You would become a veritable Judas turning away in apostasy. But Simon.

38:37 I've prayed for you that your faith fail, not or in the language of Hebrews 1039. After that sober warning, the writer says, but we are not of them that turn back onto perdition, but of them that go on believing unto the saving of the soul. The mark of faith that is at any point genuine is that it is never static. If I have truly believed on Christ, I will continue.

39:06 To believe on Christ. And the proof that my past faith was genuine is that it's present faith. And therefore, Peter has no problem setting out this marvelous statement of the preservation of the heirs of the inheritance in these terms. The means of their preservation is by or through faith.

Doctrinal Emphasis: Preservation and Perseverance of the Saints

39:32 So we come around full circle to where we began. Put yourself in the place. Of one of those first century believers. With all of the pressures coming from society without.

39:44 And as you read through the epistle, you know they were many. Pressures from within. And pressures from their own hostile circumstances. The devil himself is a roaring lion seeking to devour them.

39:58 The Peter, who by the spirit of God pointed them to their glorious inheritance. And says that inheritance is inviolable. Now. The devil says of every heir of that inheritance that he is guarded by the power of God, through faith, unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

40:21 Well, I've sought at least to open up the major lines of the text. Now, what does it say to us sitting here this morning? Well, it has, first of all, a very helpful doctrinal emphasis that we need to grasp afresh. We have, in this text, one of the most clear and comprehensive statements of the biblical doctrine of the preservation and the perseverance of the true people of God.

40:48 This is a watershed text. If someone were to say to you, I understand you believe the doctrine of the preservation and perseverance of the saints. That all who are truly saved, none of them will ultimately perish. But of those who are truly saved, they manifest their salvation by their lifestyle being frail.

41:06 They are framed as a life of faith. What text sets this forth unmistakably? Here's one of them. Philippians 1.6 is often used.

41:14 He that hath begun a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ. John 10.27-30. The Lord Jesus said, I know my sheep, and they hear my voice.

41:24 They follow me. I give to them eternal life. They shall never perish. No one shall pluck them out of my hand.

41:32 Romans 8.29-39. Whom he foreknew, he predestined. He called whom he called.

41:37 He justified whom he justified. He glorified. And he doesn't lose a one along the whole line. John 6.37-41.

41:46 This is the will of him that sent me, that of all that he hath given me I should lose nothing but raise it up at the last day. But among those watershed texts always put 1 Peter 1.5. It is a marvelous distillation of this truth.

42:01 What does it tell us? All who are begotten again, truly regenerated. Justified and united to Christ by faith. Will be kept and preserved unto final salvation.

42:13 He says who? Referring to the you described at the end of verse 4. All without exception who are the elect sojourners of the dispersion. Who have been known in God's loving, sovereign, free purpose.

42:30 The foreknowledge of God. Sanctified by the Spirit. Brought unto obedience. Brought unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ.

42:39 All who have experienced the divine begetting unto a living hope. And unto this incorruptible inheritance. All of them who without exception. Every one of them are being kept, guarded, preserved by the power of God.

42:57 It's the one side of the doctrine of the preservation of the saints. God who has marked them out. And given them to Christ before the world began. God who has sent his Son as their head and representative.

43:13 Who lived the life they should have lived but did not. And died the death they should have died but dare not. The God who in time sends his Spirit to quicken them. Take out the heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.

43:28 That God is committed to preserve every last one of them. One of them until they come to the inheritance. Not a one of them will have the inheritance rightly gleaming in his eye. Who will not attain to it in his experience.

43:45 But now the other side of the doctrine is. All who are begotten again and truly regenerated. Justified and united to Christ by faith. Will continue in faith.

43:55 And bring forth the fruits of faith on their way to the inheritance. That's the perseverance of the saints. All who are truly begotten again. And truly united to Christ.

44:12 All who are truly sanctified in the Spirit. Brought unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood. All of these will continue in faith. Bringing forth the fruits of faith on their way to final salvation.

44:30 The Bible knows no doctrine once saved always so saved no matter what you do. The Bible doctrine is once saved always saved. And what you do proves you are saved. And shall yet be saved.

44:45 When that salvation is unveiled at the last. That's the biblical doctrine of the preservation and the perseverance of the saints. And it's not double talk. That's the biblical truth.

45:02 That's why Peter can write. Who are by the power of God. God guarded through faith. Unto a salvation.

45:13 Not ready to be jettisoned. Not ready to be lost. But ready to be revealed. In the last time.

Practical Implications for Elect Sojourners

45:21 And you see this has tremendous practical implications for elect sojourners. Dispersed among the heathen. Seeking to live in a way that pleases God. As Peter will further describe it in this chapter.

45:36 Living under the fear of God. In the eye of God as a loving father. Seeking to pass the time of our sojourning with a good conscience. Living out life under the eye of our gracious God and father.

45:50 As we face the pressures. As we face temptation. As we feel at times I'm not going to make it. What do we need to do?

46:00 We need to fasten the eyes of the soul. Upon the doctrine of God's commitment to preserve us. And as we do we say Lord it wasn't my idea to get in this struggle. There was a time when there was no struggle.

46:13 All I had to do was try to silence an accusing conscience. But there was no struggle. Seeking to live a holy life right down to the deepest springs of thought. Seeking to walk before you with integrity in every relationship.

46:28 Public and private. Every single aspect of my life. Lord I didn't know this struggle. And I didn't realize that there was a personal devil.

46:39 I was his dupe. I was his lackey. I was led about by his rope. But Lord when you broke his chains.

46:45 And brought me into gracious servitude to yourself. I realized I have a vicious enemy. Lord I didn't create this problem. You did.

46:55 You caused me to be begotten again. You gave me a new heart. You implanted a principle of righteousness and holiness. Giving me a determination to live for your glory.

47:06 And oh God. This struggle. This battle. This pressure from my former ungodly friends.

47:13 This wasn't my idea Lord. It's because you begot me again. And Lord since you started your work you're going to complete it. You said I will be kept by your power.

47:25 And you see in the midst of the struggle. You recognize the struggle is the evidence. That God himself began the work. And then you lay hold of the truth.

47:35 Of his commitment to preserve you. But then when you're rocking along. And you begin to get careless. And you begin to reason with the devil's logic.

47:44 Well since salvation is all of God. And all of grace. And he begins it. And he completes it.

47:51 You begin to get your eyes off the unseen world of spiritual reality. Upon which faith feeds. And you begin to get your eyes off a savior. Whose claims over you are graciously totalitarian.

48:03 You've been bought with a price. Glorify him in your body which is his. And you begin to slack off and say oh well. Kept by the power of God.

48:15 You remember through faith. Through faith. Through faith. And you stir yourself up to say oh God.

48:26 I step out of the way of faith. And I have no promise that your power is keeping me. And you load your conscience with the biblical doctrine. Of the necessity of the perseverance of the saints.

48:39 And when you're discouraged and say how can I ever recover from this state of declension and backsliding. Once your mind and heart is set upon that recovery. Then you lay hold afresh upon that great reality. That he who began the good work in you will perfect it.

48:56 Until the day of Jesus Christ. Resonant aliens in the midst of danger and opposition and suffering. Peter says fasten your eyes upon the God of power. Who is the God of mercy.

Incentive to Press On in the Christian Pilgrimage

49:12 And he is committed to guard you the heirs of that marvelous inheritance. And bring you safely into it. But we have also in this text one of the most powerful incentives to press on in the Christian pilgrimage. In spite of all its difficulties and discouragements.

49:30 We are guarded by the power of God unto what? Unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Imagine with me two men setting out on a journey. They've been told that the journey is difficult.

49:48 They will face hazards. They will face life threatening dangers along the way. And you say to the one man however. I am able upon good authority to tell you.

49:59 You will arrive at your journey's end. And what awaits you at the end of the journey. And then you read out this litany of hope. And all of the marvelous things that await him.

50:08 And you tell him the end of the journey is glorious. Here's what awaits you. In between there are all kinds of difficulties. But your arrival is certain.

50:18 You tell the same man all the same things about the difficulty of the journey. And you even tell him about awaits the end of the journey for those who make it. But then you tell him. But I have no assurance that you're going to make it.

50:31 To all the wonderful things that await you at the end. Now as the two set out in their journey. Which one is more likely to press through the difficulties. And to nerve himself to press on until he arrives at the end.

50:45 The one who is uncertain about the result of his journey. Or the one who is absolutely certain about the result. You see a certain confidence that I shall make it to the glorious end. Does not discourage the traveler.

51:04 It nerves him in his most difficult hour. And isn't that what happened to our Lord Jesus? Hebrews 12 too says. Who for the joy that was set before him.

51:16 Endured the cross. Despising its shame. When his enemies were hurling false accusations at him left and right. And I want to pause to say in the light of some of the things we are dealing with in this assembly.

51:32 The repetition of accusations doesn't make them facts. Many false witnesses rose up against him. And it's time some of you recognize that. 30, 40, 50 people all saying the same thing doesn't make it true.

51:55 And when our Lord faced these wretched accusations. Creatures that he made and sustains by his own life giving power. Spitting on him. Think of it.

52:07 The face of the Son of God dripping with sin. It says they struck him with blows. The crown of thorns upon him. He looks out and he sees Peter.

52:19 Vain standing out in his neck affirming I don't know the man. What caused him to press on? Who for the joy? When he's drived out.

52:35 Nailed upon a cross. And the nails are pounded into his hands. And the heavens are shrouded in blackness. And his soul is sunk into the abyss of forsakenness.

52:47 Why do you not heed the cheering crowd? Come down from the cross. Show your stuff. For the joy was set before him.

52:57 He saw the great multitude whom no man can number. Out of every kindred, tribe and tongue and nation. The fruit of his travail. He saw the certain end of the journey through the darkness of Gethsemane.

53:13 And Golgotha and the tomb. Now he says, following my train. Guarded by the power of God unto salvation. Salvation ready to be revealed.

53:26 The inheritance is secure. And the heirs are guarded. Therefore, elect sojourners of the dispersion. Your former friends buffeting you because you don't run with them to the same excess of riot.

53:41 You feel the pressure of a mean and a malicious devil crown. The end is certain. The inheritance is secure. And every heir of the inheritance is equally secure.

53:55 What a wonderful principle of God's truth. To have stored up in our hearts. That whatever we face on our way. We're going to arrive at the celestial city.

54:07 Some of us in our old circles used to sing the song. It will be worth it all. When we see Jesus. Not if.

54:20 When we see Jesus. One look at his dear face. All sorrow will erase. So, what's the conclusion?

Frightening Contrast: The Unbeliever's Inheritance of Wrath

54:30 Bravely run the race. Till we see Christ. And then my final word of observation and application is this. We have in this text a frightening contrast to the state of those who believe not.

54:48 A frightening contrast with the state of those who believe not. When Peter writes, he says, This inheritance is reserved in heaven for you. And the you are those whom he's described. As those who have been begotten again unto a living hope.

55:05 He is describing the you that he has already addressed in verse 2. Who have known the sanctifying work of the spirit. Who have been brought under the gracious yoke of obedience to Christ. And sprinkling of the blood of Christ.

55:20 And such are kept, guarded, preserved by God for the inheritance. But you know my unbelieving friend. You have an inheritance. If you go on in your unbelief.

55:32 You have an inheritance. And you are adding to that inheritance every day. Remaining in your unbelief. You see, your inheritance is not fully accomplished and prepared and stored away in heaven.

55:48 Yours is an open ended inheritance. And you are increasing it every single day. You say, Pastor, what are you talking about? Well, just look at our final passage.

56:01 Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter 2. You have an inheritance. And you are adding to that inheritance.

56:12 Remaining in unbelief in each day. You place more deposits in that inheritance. Romans 2 and verse 4. Do you despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long suffering?

56:27 Not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance. But after your hardness. And impenitent heart. Look at the language.

56:36 You are treasuring up for yourself. Yes, you are collecting an inheritance. Treasuring up for yourself. But what is that inheritance?

56:50 Wrath. In the day of wrath. And revelation of the righteous judgment. What frightening words.

57:00 Frightening words. But I didn't write them. The Holy Ghost has written them. My unbelieving tread.

57:10 What a contrast. The believer's inheritance. Incorruptible. Undefiled.

57:16 In phase. Not away. Reserved in heaven. And you are building up an ever greater inheritance.

57:24 Of the wrath of this God. The very God whose power preserves his own. Is the God whose power will uphold your existence as a human being for all eternity. While that power.

57:37 Joined to righteous wrath. Funnels down upon your body and soul. The frightening pangs of the power of God. Unto an inheritance.

57:55 Unto a salvation. Ready to be revealed. Upheld by God's goodness. He gives you his breath.

58:02 He gives you his sunshine. He gives you sanity of mind. But what do you do with his goodness? You despise it.

58:09 You misinterpret it. You say there is no God. There is no wrath. There is no hell.

58:15 And all the while God says while his goodness upholds you. And his power sustains you in life. You are putting stock in your inheritance. And were you to die in the next moment in unbelief.

58:29 You'd come to your inheritance. My friend. Don't treat lightly the things of God. Don't despise the overtures of God's mercy.

58:41 For the God who has sent his son into the world to die for sinners. Bids you today. Bids you today in the word and promise of the gospel. Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

58:56 And you too will be saved. May God grant that as you have as it were looked with us at the glorious inheritance of the people of God. By contrast seeing the frightening inheritance that you are laying up for yourself. Would God that this moment you flee the wrath to come.

59:16 And run into Jesus Christ. Who is a refuge for the neediest of sinners. Kept by the power of God through faith. Unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Prayer and Concluding Exhortation

59:32 Let us pray. Our Father we do thank you for your holy word. We thank you for this great and glorious salvation. And we thank you for your commitment to preserve the heirs of that salvation.

59:53 O Lord we ask that our hearts will expand with joy. And with wonder and with praise and with adoration. And that we may show our gratitude by lives of careful and meticulous obedience. To all that you've revealed in your word.

60:12 We do acknowledge joyfully that we do not have the power to guard ourselves. And we thank you. You are committed to guard us. Unto that reign.

60:22 Unto that ready to be revealed salvation. We do ask that you'd be merciful to those. Who this very moment in their unbelief. Are setting themselves up to inherit a frightening inheritance.

60:37 O Lord cause them to tremble to fear. To flee from the wrath to come. And to find refuge in the Lord Jesus. Seal then your word to every heart we plead.

60:49 In our Savior's name. Amen. Amen.