God Purposed We Should Persevere

Introduction: The Doctrine of Perseverance and Preservation

0:02 We are continuing our studies in 1 Thessalonians. At present, we are considering some of the tremendous truths that are couched in chapter 3, and some of the doctrines in which chapter 3 itself is couched. You remember the deep concern of the apostle, having left this infant church in a state of strife from the world about it, a state of persecution. Paul is greatly concerned to know how they fare spiritually in the midst of the opposition received from the world, and particularly from apostate Jews. And unable to get to them in the providence of God, he sends Timothy to know their faith, to check up on them. And Timothy comes back with this glowing report of their perseverance and preservation in the ways of God.

1:05 And in giving us the report of his concern and their state, chapter 3 affords some wonderful instruction on the general theme of the Christian doctrine of affliction, the doctrine of saving faith, and then, as we noticed last week, on the doctrine of the perseverance and preservation of the saints of God. It will be impossible for...

1:27 It will be impossible for anyone to come to some mature understanding of chapter 3 unless he has some understanding, at least basically, of the biblical doctrine of the perseverance and preservation of the saints of God. And so, in our study last week, we saw that there are three principles that comprise the statement of this doctrine, and they are all found, at least suggested, in chapter 3. The basis of Paul's rejoicing on behalf of the Thessalonians. The basis of Paul's rejoicing on behalf of the Thessalonians was his conviction that all the Thessalonians who had been savingly joined to Christ would be preserved until the day when Christ came back again.

2:09 So he could say, you are my joy, my crown of rejoicing in the presence of the Lord Jesus at his coming. Paul was absolutely confident that every true Christian at Thessalonica, no matter what he would face in the future, would be found glorified in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then, in the second place, we tried to see the basis of Paul's anxiety. For this is a chapter filled with anxiety.

2:36 It begins that way. We could no longer forbear. It's repeated in verse 5 when we were with you. I'm sorry, verse 6, verse 5.

2:44 For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith. Paul is anxious because of this second principle. Not all who profess faith in Christ are savingly joined to Christ. All who are joined to Christ will be preserved for that kingdom.

3:02 But not all who profess faith in Christ are truly joined to Christ. It's possible that they shall fall away. In fact, that many who profess faith shall fall away. And that was Paul's concern.

3:15 He wants to know if they are still believing in spite of opposition, in spite of hindrances, in spite of all the problems encountered. He wants to know, are you still believing? Recognizing that some begin to believe who fall away. And then the third principle, the focus of Paul's interest in exhortation is based upon this principle, that continuance in the ways of God, in faith and obedience, is the proof of reality.

3:48 So when he hears that they are continuing, he rejoices. Why? Because continuance is the proof of reality. And if there is no continuance, all it proves is there was, in reality, nothing to begin with.

Continuance as Proof of Reality: Lessons from 1 John

4:02 There are two verses that I did not quote last week. And in working on my review, they came to mind. And I want to call them to your attention this morning. They're both in 1 John.

4:14 And they illustrate this third principle. And then we shall move into our study this morning, our new material. In 1 John, chapter three and verse six, John says, Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. That is, he does not go on making a practice of sin.

4:36 If he claims to be sinless, he told us in chapter one, he's a liar. But if he turns the grace of God into an excuse for sin and says, oh, well, since I'm saved by grace, doesn't matter if I go on sinning. John says, the man who continues in the habitual practice of sin is not joined to Christ. Whoever continues in the practice of sin, now notice, hath not seen him, neither known him.

5:04 Now, he doesn't say he saw him at one time and knew him at one time, but he no longer sees and knows him. He says the continuance in the practice of sin at any point in the total spectrum of a Christian's profession. Here, a man has supposedly been a Christian for 15 years, gives himself over to some peculiar kind of sin, and he lives in it, he's enmeshed in it, he dies in it. Do we have any ground to claim that man's a Christian?

5:32 No. Why? Because of the statement of John. He that practices sin has never seen him, neither has he ever truly known him.

5:42 Then chapter two and verse 19 is another very clear text that demonstrates this principle. They went out from us, that is, these false teachers, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

6:08 You see what John is saying? As long as they were in the scope of the professing church, they had made a profession of faith in Christ, they had come into the church through the symbol, symbolic act of identification with Christ and his people in baptism. They had formally come under the discipline and care of the church. John says all the while they were among us, they weren't really a part of us.

6:33 They were attached to us externally by profession and by confession. And so when John would look out over that group of people, he'd say, who are the church? He would include these people. But he said in God's eyes and in reality, they were never really a part of us.

6:49 Now, what did their going out prove? Some would say, well, if someone confesses Christ and gives evidence of being born and apparently loves the truth of Christ and fellowships with the people of Christ and then forsakes the doctrine of Christ, forsakes the Church of Christ, that proves you can be in a state of grace and you can fall out of the state of grace. You can be saved and then lost. John says, no, not at all.

7:13 This is what it proves. They went out from us that they might be made manifest, that the real truth might be known they were never really a part of us. And so when people depart, two wrong answers are these, the one wrong answer I've dealt with. They've lost their salvation, though they never had it, John says.

7:36 The other wrong answer is since they made a profession and since they gave some evidences, though they have gone out from us, they're still saved. For once saved, always saved. And both of those things are unscriptural fallacies, equally deluding. In fact, the second probably more delusive than the first, at least the man who feels you can fall from grace when he's in a state of sin, doesn't claim to have grace, whereas the person who says once saved, always saved.

8:08 So since they made a profession, since they made a decision, since they gave some evidences, though they may not have been around the church for 20 years, they're backslidden. We just need to pray that they'll come back into the favor of God. That isn't how John would pray for them when they go out from the circle of the people of God and the doctrines of God and the way of God. John said, you pray for them as those who never knew God.

8:29 Pray the Lord will save them. And I trust that this principle will be burned into our hearts clearly, I'm deeply anxious as your pastor, that the spirit of God teach all of us this essential concept of the word of God. That's why Paul wrote the way he did at this to those Thessalonians. That's why he sent Timothy to strengthen their faith.

8:50 Why? Because only as they continued in the faith, did he have continued assurance that they were truly joined to Jesus Christ, the Lord. So you have those that fall in hard circumstances. Matthew 13, the stony ground here is others who fall away because of hard doctrine, John six in verse 60 and 66.

The Question: Why Do True Saints Continue?

9:12 This is a hard saying. And it says after that, his disciples went back and walked no more. But the real issue is he that endure it to the end shall be saved. Now, the question we want to consider this morning, why do the true saints continue?

9:31 If it is true that all who are savingly joined to Christ will persevere to the end, why do they persevere? What is the cause of their perseverance? And this, again, is not an academic question. This is a most practical issue.

9:48 If I'm not straight on why a believer continues on in the faith, I won't know where my faith should be focused. Do they continue because of something in themselves or because of something in God? I won't know where to lay the basket of the garlands of praise if they continue because of something in them. Then they ought to turn around and pack their own bags.

10:14 But if they continue because of factors that are lying solely in God, then they ought to be found and their faces praising him not only for bringing them into a state of grace, but for enabling them to continue therein and to thank him that they shall persevere even to the end. So our question. This morning is what secures the continuance of the saints of God? Why do they persevere?

God's Standpoint: Covenanted Mercies

10:42 Why are they preserved? And the answer is a twofold answer. One answer focuses from God's standpoint. They continue because of certain things that are true of God.

10:54 And then secondly, they continue because of certain things that are true from man's standpoint. Now, we'll only have time to deal with the first this morning. Why do the saints of God persevere from God's standpoint? Now, it's always safe to start with God because that's where the Bible starts.

11:12 In the beginning, God, Romans 11, 36, for of him and through him and unto him are all things. Whenever you're trying to understand any basic doctrine of scripture, start with God. What does this say about God? What is its spirit reference as we focus upon God?

11:34 Now, from God's standpoint, there are two things that secure the perseverance and preservation of the saints. Number one, the nature of covenanted mercies and the activity of the triune God. Now, I'll explain what I mean by both of those and seek to develop them from Holy Scripture. First of all, the nature of covenanted mercies.

The New Covenant: God's Initiative and Promises

12:01 Now, there is only one reason why there is no salvation to talk about, whether it was a salvation that only lasted for a day or a week or ten years, or whether it's the salvation of scripture that is an eternal salvation. The reason we can talk about salvation at all is that God has taken the initiative to save men. And there is a beautiful statement in the Westminster Confession. I'm reading from page 676 of our hymnals at the bottom of the page.

12:35 God's covenant with man. Listen carefully. The wording here is so precise and beautiful in its scriptural accuracy. The distance between God and the creature is so great that although reasonable creatures do all obedience unto him as their creator, yet they could never have any fruition of him as their blessedness and reward.

13:00 But by some voluntary condescension on God's part, which he has been pleased to express by way of covenant, the distance between the creator and the creature is such that man could never know blessedness from God unless God condescended to bring blessedness and to do it in terms of a covenant in which God initiates certain blessings and promises to impart them. Now, there are many covenants spoken of in scripture, and we cannot go into a digression on the covenants of scripture. But there is one covenant that I want us to focus upon this morning because this is the covenant by which salvation is brought to men who stand where you and I stand today. Every time we come to the Lord's table, we remember the blood of the new covenant. This blood is the blood. This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

14:06 Jesus is called in Hebrews 11, 24, 12, 24, the mediator of a new covenant. In that blessing pronounced in Hebrews 13, that great shepherd of the sheep, may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep to the blood of the everlasting covenant. So the blood of Christ is the blood of the covenant. When we come to Christ, we come to Christ who mediates the covenant.

14:36 Now, what are the distinct blessings in this covenant sealed by the blood of Christ in which God takes the initiative to save sinners? I submit to you that this covenant is what secures the perseverance of the saints of God. God has condescended to take the initiative to make a covenant with sinners. Now, what is the blessing of that covenant or what are the blessings?

15:03 Will you turn, please, to two or three Old Testament passages where these covenants are very or this covenant is very clearly described. First of all, in the book of Jeremiah, these are the passages quoted in Hebrews eight and in Hebrews 10, showing that they are fulfilled here and now in God's saving blessings to sinners. Jeremiah, chapter thirty one and verse thirty one. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

15:44 We are forced to interpret this as spiritual Israel and spiritual Judah, because that's the way the New Testament writers interpret it. In Hebrews eight and in Hebrews ten, if there is to be some future fulfillment of this to national Israel, I am not prepared to say, but I am prepared to say that this is primarily fulfilled as far as we are concerned in the covenant. Sealed by the blood of Christ and the blessings that come to us as believing sinners. Now, what are the blessings of that covenant?

16:18 Notice the contrast. Verse thirty two, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although I was in husband unto them, saith the Lord. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. And in your mind, if not in your Bible, will you circle all the I wills here?

16:45 I will put my law into their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people and they shall teach no more. Every man, his neighbor and every man, his brother saying, know the Lord, for they shall not all know me from the least of them to the greatest and saith the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sins no more. Now, this is basically what you have in Ezekiel, chapter thirty six and beginning with verse twenty five, where the same covenant is enunciated a little bit differently, verse twenty five of Ezekiel thirty six. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you. You shall be clean from all your filthiness and your idols will I cleanse you. And a new heart also will I give you. And a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you shall keep my judgments and do that that you see the emphasis of these two descriptions of the new covenant.

18:01 There are covenants in which God says I will do certain things. Not a word about what he expects them to do. He says this is what I will do. And the things that God will do touch man.

18:13 It is two most basic needs as fallen sons of Adam. What are our two most basic needs with reference to our relationship to God? Well, they are guilt. We have committed sins that demand punishment and depravity.

18:30 We have a disposition that is adverse to God. We love darkness rather than light. We don't seek him. The carnal mind is enmity against God.

18:38 It isn't subject to the law. So you have guilt, man's problem with reference to the court of heaven. And you have this depravity, this aversion to God. Man's problem with reference to any kind of fellowship and communion with God.

18:54 Now, in the new covenant, God says he will take the initiative to deal radically with both of those problems. He said, I will take away their sins and iniquities. Remember them no more. He'll remove the guilt.

19:08 And then he says, I will. I will take out the heart of stone, give you a heart of flesh, write my law upon your heart and cause you to walk in my statutes. I'll take away this basic bent to rebellion and anarchy and indifference to my law. And I will make people want to obey me.

19:28 Now, that's what God has promised to do in the new covenant. But now someone says, all right, well, but he doesn't say I will make them want to obey me in such a way that they'll never turn back. And then again, here you have the beginning of grace promised in the new covenant. I will take away guilt.

The Covenant Secures Continuance: Jeremiah 32

19:47 I will write my law upon the heart. But is there any promise that in this covenant ratified by the blood of Christ, God has pledged to secure not only the beginning of grace, but the continuance of grace? Well, there's a wonderful promise concerning this covenant in the 32nd chapter of Jeremiah, in which God has promised to make the covenant of grace. God pledges pledges to do even something more than is mentioned in these two promises.

20:22 Jeremiah, chapter 32 and verse 39. And I will give them one heart in one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good. Now, notice this.

20:47 But I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me. Here, God says he will do something that will make it impossible for his children to depart. In other words, God says in the blessings of this everlasting covenant, this new covenant, I will not only initiate the work of grace, but I will pledge myself to continue that work. I will pledge myself to continue the work of grace so that my people will not only be preserved, but they will persevere in the ways of God and of truth.

21:31 Is it then possible for someone who has been truly joined to Christ, who, having come to Christ as the mediator of the new covenant, has had his sins blotted out, has had the law written upon his heart? Is it possible that that person shall somewhere along the line repudiate his faith in Christ, go back to the ways of sin in the world, in the sense of apostasy and falling from grace? No, for this would do violence to the very blessings promised in the covenant and sealed by the blood of Jesus Christ. So in answer to the question, why do the saints of God, the true saints of God, persevere in faith, holiness and obedience? Why are they preserved by God and why do they persevere? The answer is, from God's standpoint, covenanted mercies demand that they shall. This is the covenant that God has initiated, the covenant sealed by the blood of Christ so that the blood of Jesus pleads the fulfillment of that covenant before God and that covenant cannot be broken.

Pastoral Application: God Upholds His Saints

22:49 So that though the child of God may stumble and fall, and he does, and we read in scripture very honest accounts of the falls of the saints of God, promises like Psalm 37 and verse 12 are fulfilled again and again, Psalm 37 and verse 24. I am sorry. Backing up to verse 23, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way, though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down. Why? For the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.

23:28 Now I want to speak to the heart of every Christian. Now I've been speaking to your head up till now. Now I want to speak to your heart. Can you not think of many times when you have been brought into a state of spiritual dryness, maybe through neglect of the word of God, neglected prayer, and your heart has been, as it were, utterly insensitive to the voice of God.

23:52 And with that insensitivity to God, it's been made very alive to the world, to the flesh and to the devil. When temptation has actually been a dainty morsel, when you've been tempted, it's been like smelling your favorite food and everything within you wanted to respond in a positive way. And yet, wonder of wonders, somehow you were stayed in abandoning yourself to that particular sin or lust. Everything within you, like a stage perfectly set.

24:26 You're out of vital fellowship with God. You're not vigorous in your use of the means of grace, secret prayer, secret waiting upon God, meditation upon the word. You've been in a sad state spiritually. The stage has been perfectly set not only for a stumble, but for a fall that would lead to a place of utter abandonment of everything you profess to love and believe.

24:49 And yet you look back and say, wonder of wonders. God rescued me. God brought me back to the place where the word was real again, back to the place where sin was hateful, back to the place where Christ was precious. Now, why? Why?

25:04 There's no answer but this. The Lord upholded me with his hand. No answer but that. Because God had covenanted that the blessing he would bring to you would be a blessing that would keep you from casting off faith and obedience.

25:23 As one who is not savingly joined to Christ can do and as multitudes have done. We see the same truth brought out in Proverbs 24 and in verse 16. Proverbs 24 and in verse 16. For a just man, the true child of God, falleth seven times and riseth up again, but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

25:52 And then they lie in their mischief and they wallow in their mischief and there's no rising again. Sure, the righteous man falls, but he rises again. Why? The fear of God's been put in his heart and covenanted mercies secure that he shall persevere in faith and holiness.

26:12 It was the contemplation of this thought that caused the apostle to cry out as he did in Romans chapter eight. If God then before us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

26:35 If he gave him up to secure the blessings of the covenant, forgiveness of sin, a new heart, the law written upon the heart, a disposition moved in the direction of obedience. If this God gave up his son for us, how should he not with us give it with him? Freely give us all things, all things necessary to the complete realization of that salvation, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect, it is God that justifies, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died.

27:08 Yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who make it intercession for us to the saints of God persevere. Yes. Why? Because of covenanted mercies, the covenant of God, the new covenant and the blessings thereof secure.

God's Standpoint: The Activity of the Triune God

27:29 The perseverance of the saints of God. Now, the second reason, and this flows out of that from God's standpoint, is the activity of the triune God in administering this covenant. True Christianity is Trinitarian. By that, I mean we worship God who is revealed as one God, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

27:56 In creation, scripture teaches us that there was the activity of the entire Godhead. So creation is attributed to God, the Father, God, the Son and God, the Holy Spirit. And so in the work of recreation in redemption, there is the distinct activity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. And what I trust we shall see this morning is that it is that combined activity of the triune God in administering the covenant of grace that makes it impossible for a true child of God ever to perish.

The Father's Work: Election, Giving, and Calling

28:30 Because the entire Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are pledged to his final salvation. And I trust that God will give us such a sight of the glory of this, that we shall go out this morning staggering beneath the sight of so great salvation. Consider in the first place, then, the place and work of the Father in the salvation of sinners. What is the distinct work attributed to the Father in our redemption?

28:59 Well, the scripture traces the Father's part in our redemption back to eternity. And the whole concept of foreknowledge and election is attributed particularly to the Father. In Ephesians 1, Paul begins that wonderful paean of praise by saying, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, even as he, the Father, chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. What is the Father's part, then, in our redemption?

29:35 His part in eternity is that of electing, selecting, foreknowing, setting his affection upon an innumerable company of lost sinners who would be made the distinct and peculiar objects of his grace. It is his work to predestine them to be made light unto Christ. As he says in Ephesians 1, 5, having predestinated us unto the adoption of sons according to the good pleasure of his will. And then in time, it's the distinct work of the Father to give the Son.

30:08 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. And then it is the distinct work of the Father to call sinners. Calling is attributed to the Father. We read in 1 Peter 2, 9, show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness.

30:27 Romans chapter 11. Paul speaks of God the Father who hath called us and the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. So if you're a Christian today, you are so because of the Father's place in your redemption, in eternity choosing, foreordaining you, predetermining that you should be made light unto his Son, that you should be brought into the family of God. For you he gave his Son.

30:56 It is he who called. He called you out of darkness into marvelous light. And the Lord Jesus saved man in keeping with this purpose of the Father. For listen to his words in John 6, verses 38 to 40.

31:12 For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but to do the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will, which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose. Nothing but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life.

31:41 And I will raise him up at the last day. So the Father's purpose to have a people, this people whom he gave to his son, secures that they shall not be lost, for he says this is the Father's will, that of all that he hath given me, I should lose nothing. Not one, not one, but raise them at the last day. Now, what is the peculiar place in ministry of the Son?

The Son's Work: Purchasing and Interceding

32:08 What is his distinct part in our redemption? Well, we might place all of his work under two words, purchasing and interceding. Now, what did he die to purchase? Well, Ephesians 5 tells us.

32:22 Did he die to purchase a salvation that would give a few people or some people or multitudes of people the joy of forgiveness of sins for a few days, weeks or even a few years? Did he die that there might be some who would present to be presented before him, who would persevere and others who could say as they look back from hell, well, I'm grateful, at least I knew the joy of sins forgiven for six years while I was on earth. No, Ephesians 5 tells us what he died to purchase. Notice Ephesians 5 and verse 25. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it.

33:06 For what purpose? That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot, a wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. Notice. The distinct object of the purchasing work of Christ, the giving up of himself to death was not just to make everybody savable.

33:38 No, no. He gave himself for the church that he might present it to himself, a glorious church. And it could not be glorious if there were rents in that church, if there were those comprising the church who would be absent in that day. No, his church.

33:59 He says, is the object of his purchase and presenting that church to him. A glorious church is the purpose of his death. Why then do the saints of God persevere? Why are they preserved?

34:13 Not only because this is the purpose of the father, but because this was the object of the purchase of the son. Titus to 14 gives us a similar perspective where it speaks of Christ giving himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. He died to present us. That's why we will be preserved.

34:42 He died to purify us. That's why we persevere. That's the object of his death. And then not only by his purchasing work, but by his interceding work.

34:53 Well, you notice that well-known verse in Hebrews seven and verse twenty five. It's so pivotal to an understanding of this subject. Having dealt with Christ as the priest after the order of Melchizedek, that strange man who appears on the scene in Genesis leaves as quickly as he came on the scene, the writer's been explaining how Christ is a priest like this Melchizedek all to this end. It all has this as its goal.

35:23 Here is the practical application of all this doctrine. Wherefore, verse twenty five. Wherefore, because he has an unchanging priesthood, because he ever lives as a priest, wherefore he is able better translated. He has the power, the dunamis, the might.

35:44 He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. Why? Seeing he ever living to make intercession for them. Why is it?

35:59 That the saints are saved to the uttermost. Why are they not only assured that their sins are blotted out, but that they shall gaze upon him in glory? It's because of his place as an intercessor. He ever lives to make intercession for them.

36:15 Therefore, he has the power to save them to the uttermost. His intercession is a prevailing, a powerful intercessory work. And we get a glimpse of that intercessory work in the 17th. Chapter of John, where our Lord, praying for his own praise, that they shall be preserved and that they shall be purified, that they shall be kept by the father, that they should be kept from sin.

36:42 You see the two concepts of preservation, perseverance. It's the very focus of the intercessory prayer of Christ. Listen, as I read from John, chapter 17, John, chapter 17 and verses 12, 15 and 24. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name.

37:04 Those that thou gavest me have I kept and none of them is lost. But the son of perdition, in other words, he is lost. He's one who was a devil from the beginning, never was the object of Christ keeping word that the scripture might be fulfilled. Verse 15, I pray not that thou should take them out of the world, but thou should keep them from the evil or the evil one.

37:28 Here is prayer is that his people shall not abandon themselves to sin. That's why the people of God persevere in holiness, because Christ intercessory work secures that they shall his purchased. The object of his purchase was that he might have a people zealous of good works, purified from iniquity, the focus of his intercessory work, that they should be kept from sin. Then verse 24, Father, I will that they all soon thou has given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou has given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world.

38:05 Here he prays not so much for their perseverance in holiness as they're being preserved unto glory. And so the intercessory work of Christ is a prevailing work. We have the beautiful example of it in the case of Peter, recorded in Luke 22. Satan hath desired thee to sift thee as wheat, but I have prayed for thee notice that thy faith fail not.

38:28 He didn't say I pray for thee, thy courage fail. Not Peter's courage failed in the hour of testing. He became a coward and denied his Lord, did he not? But he said, I pray that thy faith fail not.

38:42 You mean Peter was a believer when he cursed and swore and said, I don't know him. Yes, he was a believer. He was a believer, a believer overcome by the fear of man, which led him to curse and swear and deny his Lord in the moment of weakness. But it's one thing for a believer to be overcome in an area of weakness, and it's another thing for him to repudiate his faith.

39:08 Now, you see, it's the spurious believer who cast off his faith. The stony ground here is the man that it said of him, he believeth what? For a while. And then he cast off faith.

39:21 He goes back into the world, back into the life of sin, abandons himself to the ways of licentiousness and evil. But the true child of God, the Lord Jesus prays that his faith fail not. And he said, not if thou are turned again, but when thou are turned again, strengthen thy brethren. And so in answer to the question, why do the saints of God persevere?

The Spirit's Work: Sealing and Sanctifying

39:47 Why are they preserved? We not only have the activity of the father, but the activity of the son and then the work of the Holy Spirit and what is the distinct ministry of the Holy Spirit to preserve and purify the saints of God? His work could be summarized under two words, sealing and sanctifying. Ephesians 1.13 speaks of the Holy Spirit being given to believers.

40:15 And in Chapter four, verse 30, he says, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. You are marked with reference to that day. He doesn't say you're sealed to the day of your apostasy. You're sealed to the day when you fall from grace, you're sealed unto the day of redemption.

40:38 And the seal is nothing less than the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And his sealing, his presence within becomes his sanctifying work. Remember what John said in Chapter three and verse nine about the Christian, he said he cannot practice sin. Why? Because his seed remaineth in him.

40:58 And he cannot practice sin because he's born of God. Isn't that what Jeremiah said? I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me. You see, it's not the picture of a child of God, everything in him wanting to sin and wanting to abandon himself to the world.

41:17 No, nothing within his constitution holding him back. And God is, as it were, holding him by the back of his shirt and the man straining at it as though God is coercing him and saying, well, because you're mine, I'm not going to let you abandon yourself to sin. Do all you may. I'm going to hold you by your coat tail.

41:34 No, no. God says, I'll put my fear into their hearts so that you won't want to abandon me. His seed remaineth in him so that he cannot be at home in the realm of sin. You see, God does something that makes a man want to flee the hog pens, just like with the prodigal.

41:54 It's not the pictures. The prodigal was still drooling for his old ways. And yet the father came and dragged him by the back of the neck out of the hog pens and away from the harlots and brought him back. No, no. It said he came to himself.

42:09 Something happened that he gladly left the hog pens and the harlots and returned to his father's house. Well, the same way God works in calling sinners, doing something in them that they want to repent and want to forsake the ways of sin. This is how he keeps his saints. He so stirs up the springs of grace, the work of the Holy Spirit, that when we have sinned, he lets us feel the bitterness of it, makes us feel at home, ill at home in the realm of sin until we are brought back in the way of the fear of God, in the way of holiness, in the way of obedience.

42:46 It's by the spirit, Paul says, that we mortify the deeds of the flesh. It's by the spirit that we are to walk. His is a sanctifying work. And oh, may God enable us to see this morning that with that threefold toward the work of the triune God, how is it possible that the saints of God shall ever fall from grace, the father purpose, the son purchasing and interceding, the spirit sealing and sanctifying?

Conclusion and Application: Rest in God's Grace

43:15 This is the activity of the entire Godhead in applying to men the salvation purposed in grace and covenanted to sinners, gratified and sealed by the blood of Christ. May God grant that if we are resting our hope upon any other salvation but one rooted in free grace, that God will tear us from that foundation, for it's a foundation of sand. If you're resting on the changing will of man, on the feeble decision of man, on the faulty faith of man and the imperfect sanctification of man. Oh, dear children of God, our faith should be that God will fulfill his covenanted mercies.

44:00 Our confidence should be in the activity of the triune God. May I bring in closing a word of application to you who are strangers to God's grace? I'm speaking to young people and adults. You're not savingly joined to Christ.

44:16 You may be of even one time made a profession of Christ, profession of faith, but this morning you don't even make a profession. May I urge you not to rest until you know you have an interest in a salvation like this? You've been made for eternity. You're going to dwell somewhere forever, heaven or hell.

44:36 And anyone who faces eternity with anything less than this blessed surrounding of the triune God and the blessings of the new covenant with which to face time and eternity, that person is a fool. For if God is for us in Christ, God is against us out of Christ. And just as surely as when the triune God pledges to save a sinner, nothing can stop that purpose. When this same God purposes to damn a sinner, nothing can turn aside his frightful judgment.

45:11 And so just as the scripture says it's a blessed thing to be in the hands of a saving God, it's a terrible thing to be in the hands of a judging and a condemning God. Oh, dear young people and children and adults as well who are strangers to grace. Don't rest until you know that you are joined to Christ, the mediator of the new covenant until you can contemplate until your heart fills with praise and until your tears spill out with spontaneous response. Blessed covenant of grace, pledging the full blotting out of sin, pledging to put his fear within my heart to keep me in his ways.

45:55 Blessed activity of the triune God, the Father, purposing the Son, purchasing and interceding the Spirit, sealing and sanctifying so great salvation. Let me say to you who believe by grace that you are partakers of that covenant and of those covenanted mercies. May we learn to intelligently praise God in terms of the covenants. May we learn to intelligently expect God to work in terms of the covenant.

46:29 Listen to the words of this hymn that I trust we'll be able to sing in the future with more understanding. A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant mercy I sing. God's pledged to do something. Nor fear with thy righteousness on my person an offering to bring.

46:48 The terrors of law and of God with me can have nothing to do. My Savior's obedience in blood hide all my transgressions from view. The work which is goodness began. The arm of his strength will complete his promises yea and amen and never was forfeited yet.

47:10 Things future nor things that are now nor all things below or above can make him his purpose forego or sever my soul from his love. My name from the palms of his hands eternity will not erase. Impressed on his heart it remains in marks of indelible grace. Yes.

47:33 To the end shall endure as sure as the earnest is given more happy, but not more secure the glorified spirits in heaven. Some of you as God's children are weary with the conflict and you wonder, how am I going to make it? I know I must. I must persevere.

47:55 I must climb the hill difficulty. I must meet with Apollyon. And even though it seems that my life bled is going to go from me, I must take the shield of faith and quench the fiery darts. Oh, to the tempest tossed child of God.

48:09 My exhortation this morning is this. Fix your confidence upon the great God of the covenant. He's promised to bring you through every difficulty, every opposition and to land you safe in the presence of his dear son. Plead that in prayer in the midst of your weakness.

48:29 Don't look to your weakness. Fix your eyes upon those covenant and your mercies and say, Lord, you've promised to. So put your fear within that I would not depart. Oh, Lord, give me greater measures of my fear.

48:42 Oh, Father, you've purposed that not one of yours given to the son should be found lacking in that day. Oh, God, give me grace to press on. Lord Jesus, plead for me in the hour of trial. Jesus, plead for me less by base denial.

48:57 I depart from thee. That's the substance of that hymn. Cry to God for more. Copious measures of the sanctifying spirit.

49:06 You see, beloved, this is a most practical doctrine again, for it forms the framework within which the child of God can face the world, the flesh from the devil, confident that he shall endure pleading with God for grace to endure. And I submit that it's an understanding of that doctrine that lays behind all of the exhortation of first Thessalonians three. And we're going to see the Lord willing next week. Why?

49:32 To persevere, not for man God standpoint, but for man standpoint. And I trust in so doing, we'll see the whole balance of this glorious doctrine of holy scripture and feel the weight of it in our own hearts and lives. Let us unite together in prayer.