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You can turn in your Bibles to 
the book of Jude. We're going to read just verse 
1 and verse 2 of the book of Jude. We read the entire book this 
morning. Not that it wouldn't be a good thing to read it all 
again, but we'll just read verses 1 and 2 to set something of a 
launching pad whereby we can explore the Bible as it speaks 
to the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Jude 1, 1 and 
2, once again, the word of the living and true God. Jude, a 
bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who 
are called, sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus 
Christ. Mercy, peace and love be multiplied 
to you. Amen. Well, let us pray. Heavenly 
Father, we rejoice in the holy scriptures and what can be simply 
contained in a matter of verses. We thank you for what you reveal 
to us in your holy scriptures concerning the comprehensiveness 
of your salvation. And we rejoice in the reality 
of the perseverance of the saints, knowing that it comes not from 
our own power, but from the power of the living and true God. And 
we pray that you would help us now as we examine the scriptures 
and as we find and see the blessed doctrine of the perseverance 
of the saints. We pray that you would help us to rejoice and 
help us to live and conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of your gospel. And we pray in Christ Jesus. 
Amen. Well, we read two portions of 
scripture this morning. Uh, the book of Philippians, 
we read chapter one and we read the epistle to Jude or of Jude 
to his particular audience and We read two texts in there. Well, 
in fact, three, because we read verse one and verse two this 
morning. But in Philippians 1.7, we read that Paul is confident 
of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in 
the Philippian Christians would continue that work unto the day 
of Christ. That is a text that speaks to 
the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. We read, remember, 
Jude 1, 24, and spent a little bit of time on, now to him who 
is able to keep you from stumbling. Well, Jude begins his epistle 
with the doctrine of perseverance brought out in verse 1 to those 
who are called sanctified by God the Father and preserved 
in Jesus Christ. Jude 1.1 is a testament to a 
very concise and brief testament to the comprehensiveness, the 
perfect, inviolable comprehensiveness of salvation that we have in 
and by the Lord Jesus Christ. What do we mean by inviolable? 
We simply mean that it cannot be violated. impenetrable. The system of salvation by the 
triune God through Jesus Christ, the Lord, is inviolable. It cannot 
be broken. And we have the comprehensiveness 
of it set forth simply here in the identification of the audience 
to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved 
in Jesus Christ. Spurgeon would say in a famous 
sermon, I cannot comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after 
they are called and suffers the children of God to be burned 
in the fires of damnation. After having once believed in 
Jesus, such a gospel I abhor. What is the gospel that Spurgeon 
did not abhor, but rather praised God for? But it was the gospel 
that sets forth a God who from midst to last, throughout, and 
from the beginning, saves to the uttermost by Jesus Christ, 
the blessed Savior. And one of those aspects of this 
gospel of salvation is preservation in Jesus Christ. And so from 
this launching pad, let's explore the doctrine of the perseverance 
of the saints, because this is the stuff of soul comfort. We're 
going to look at four things this evening. Breaking away from 
the Reformed tradition of a three-point sermon, we'll look at four points 
this evening. In our Protestant freedom, we 
can have as many points as we want, as long as we don't try 
the patience of the saints. Four points this evening then. 
The first is the doctrine of perseverance in the perfect plan 
of God. The second is the doctrine of 
perseverance in the perfect promise of God. The third is the doctrine 
of perseverance in the perfect performance of God. And then 
fourthly, the doctrine of perseverance in the perfect power of God. So first off, the doctrine of 
perseverance in the perfect plan of God, the divine design in 
the plan of God before the foundation of the world was to save and 
preserve a multitude of particular sinners by Jesus Christ, the 
Savior. We should know one text very 
well that speaks to this, Ephesians 1.4. And we don't repeat this 
text in order to just be repetitive, but because it is one of those 
gems in the Bible mind that speaks to the glorious salvation by 
our triune God. Remember what Ephesians 1.4 says, 
backing up to verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual 
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us 
in Him before the foundation of the world. should know that text, but where 
else do we find this particular doctrine? Another address of 
Holy Scripture that we ought to know is Romans 8, 29 to 30. And you can turn there because 
if what we have in the identification of Jude's audience is a skeletal 
framework, that is a concise testament to the comprehensiveness 
of salvation by the triune God, then in Romans 8.30 we most certainly 
have one as well. But the words that precede Romans 
8.30 speak to this as well. Again, the doctrine of perseverance 
in the perfect plan of God. Notice in Romans 8 at verse 28, 
And we know that all things work together for good to those who 
love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also 
predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He 
might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom 
he predestined, these he also called, whom he called, these 
he also justified, and whom he justified, these he also glorified." 
Our confession of faith, and we looked at that this morning 
with regards to the Lord's Supper, Our confession of faith identifies 
this biblical truth that our faith is increased and strengthened 
by the spirit of Christ working upon our hearts by the ministry 
of the word. So when a preacher of the Gospel, 
for example, says, read your Bible, it is to direct you to 
the Bible generally, and these blessed truths specifically that 
are given forth to us here. Whom He foreknew, these He also 
predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Moreover, 
whom He predestined, these He also called. Whom He called, 
these He also justified. Whom He justified, these He also 
glorified. The perfect plan of God was such 
that He predestined a multitude of sinners, particular sinners, 
to be saved by the perfect work of the triune God. And in due 
time, these are called, justified, and glorified. Rightly called, 
the golden chain, of salvation, this framework testifying just 
like Jude 1 to the comprehensiveness of salvation by the triune God. Did the Lord Christ speak to 
this? Did the Lord Jesus Christ in 
his earthly ministry speak to the doctrine of perseverance 
in the perfect plan of God, He most certainly did. Remember 
what Jesus said among the many other things that He says in 
John 6. But He says this with regards to this point at John 
6.39, This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all 
He has given to Me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up 
at the last day. That is the stuff of soul comfort 
for the Christian, isn't it? This is the will of the Father 
who sent me, that of all He has given me, I should lose nothing, 
but raise it up at the last day. You see, Jesus isn't speaking 
to some possibility where those who have actually been given 
to Him by the Father can ultimately be torn away from his grasp, 
but rather he is speaking with regards to this most certain 
truth, that there is salvific harmony between the persons of 
the blessed triune God. There is no disjunction in triune 
harmony. The father wills to save, the 
son saves all those whom the father wills to save, And the 
spirit in due time comes to apply that perfect salvation. It is 
beautiful. The Lord Christ most certainly 
spoke to the doctrine of perseverance in the perfect plan of God when 
he spoke those words. Secondly, the doctrine of perseverance 
in the perfect promise of God, the doctrine of perseverance 
in the perfect promise of God, the divine promise. of the everlasting 
covenant in the Old Testament contained within it the certainty 
that those covenant members would not perish, but have everlasting 
life. Now, it was most certainly true 
that in the old covenant, those who were members of the covenant 
of grace, those who were believers, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, 
saints in the Old Testament, remember this, that from Adam 
to the last breathing human being, salvation has always been and 
will always be by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. In the 
Old Testament, it was by grace through faith in a coming Redeemer, 
the Lord Jesus Christ. This side of that coming, it 
is by grace through faith in a Redeemer having come. We look 
back upon the finished work of Jesus in the old covenant. They 
looked forward to the finished work of Jesus. So in the old 
covenant, there were those who were members of the new covenant 
that is proleptically in the past, before it came. But this 
is the point, the divine promise of the everlasting covenant contained 
within it. the certainty that those covenant 
members would not perish, but have everlasting life. Turn to 
Jeremiah with me, the book of Jeremiah. And specifically, Jeremiah 
31. We see this, what we just said, 
in the announced characteristics of the new covenant given to 
us in the old. What we simply mean is this, 
that in the old covenant, in the Old Testament, The prophets 
announced that there would be this perfection of salvation 
in the New Covenant reality. Notice first off in the announced 
characteristics of the New Covenant. Jeremiah 31, beginning at verse 
31. Behold, the days are coming, 
says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house 
of Israel and with the house of Judah. Notice the first characteristic. Not according to the covenant 
that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by 
the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant 
which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 
So the first characteristic of this announced new covenant is 
that it cannot be broken. It is substantially different 
from that old covenant because this covenant cannot be broken. 
33, but this is the covenant that I will make with the house 
of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law in 
their minds and write it on their hearts. The second characteristic 
of the new covenant reality, all members will have the law 
written upon their hearts redemptively. It is the case that every human 
being, every man and woman, boy and girl, have the law written 
on their hearts creatively, that is by virtue of creation. When 
we're as we are, created in the image of God, man has the law 
of God written upon his heart. He knows when he violates God's 
law that he has violated the statutes of a divine magistrate 
and is deserving of judgment. But this writing upon the heart 
has in view a redemptive writing of the law of God upon the hearts 
of people, of his elect, of Christians. He goes on to say, And I will 
be their God, and they shall be my people. No more shall every 
man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know 
the Lord, for they all shall know me from the least of them 
to the greatest of them, says the Lord. You see, in the new 
covenant reality, we don't have to evangelize fellow saints because 
they have already been evangelized and they have already come to 
believe in the King of Kings and in the Lord of Lords. There 
is no need to bring the word of God in order to affect the 
salvation of a new covenant member, because a new covenant member 
is one by virtue of their regeneration, having been born again. and brought 
from deadness to life in Christ Jesus. And then lastly, for I 
will forgive their iniquity and their sin. I will remember no 
more. You see, if it was sin that could 
cast us out of the kingdom of God, having already been brought 
in by grace, then what good is this new covenant characteristic? 
Because it would be a lie from the courtroom of heaven. For 
I will forgive their iniquity and their sin, I will remember 
no more. We have the announced promise, 
but perhaps more even to the point of this language of not 
falling away, though that is impenetrable text, we have Jeremiah 
32, 40. But notice before we get to verse 
40, look how Jeremiah builds to this in Jeremiah 32, 36. Now, therefore, says the Lord. 
Now, therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel concerning 
this city of which you say it shall be delivered into the hand 
of the king of Babylon by the sword. by the famine and by the 
pestilence. Behold, I will gather them out 
of all countries where I have driven them in my anger, in my 
fury, and in great wrath. I will bring them back to this 
place and I will cause them to dwell safely. They shall be my 
people and I will be their God. Then I will give them one heart 
and 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 doing them 
good, but I will put my heart, I will put my fear in their hearts 
so that they will not depart from me. You see that blessed 
announcement of this coming everlasting covenant. We see the reality 
brought forth by Jeremiah here, that the Lord God will put His 
fear into their hearts so that they will not depart from Him. We see this reality as we move 
now to the new covenant scriptures, to the New Testament. We see 
this announced by the angel Gabriel, don't we? We're still on this 
point, the doctrine of perseverance in the perfect promise of God. 
God, by the announcing angel Gabriel, comes to Joseph and 
he announces something peculiar and specific concerning the babe 
that would be born of Mary. He says, and you shall call his 
name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. The 
clarity of the scriptures is absolutely clear. There's a tautology 
for you. The clarity of the scriptures 
at the point of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, 
you just cannot get past it if you are an opposer of this doctrine. You shall call his name Jesus, 
for he will save his people from their sins. And Christ himself 
speaks to this reality, of course, when he says all that the father 
gives me will come to me. And the one who comes to me, 
I will by no means cast out. We have the perfect plan of God 
bearing out perseverance. We have the perfect promise of 
God speaking to perseverance. And thirdly, we have the doctrine 
of perseverance in the perfect performance of God. The doctrine 
of perseverance in the perfect performance of God, the historical 
execution of the promised redemption ensures perseverance because 
of the perfection of that redeeming work. You see, this plan of redemption 
is or that redemption is planned by God in eternity past to use 
a sort of a contradictory statement, eternity We can't really comprehend 
eternity, so we put it in time somewhere, before time. But before 
the creation of the world, God the Father purposed, He planned. 
to save a particular multitude of sinners by the sacrifice of 
Jesus. As He delivers revelation to 
His people, He promises that He will do so. And that in time 
and in history, that the execution of that plan is brought to bear 
by God. What does the Bible say about 
this? Well, let's review some texts 
in the book of Hebrews. Because on this notion, The historical 
execution of the promised redemption ensures perseverance because 
of the perfection of that redeeming work. The book of Hebrews speaks 
time and again to that blessed reality, and right at the outset 
it does so. God, who at various times, verse 
1 of chapter 1, and in various ways, spoke in time past to the 
fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to 
us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom 
also He made the worlds, who being the brightness of His glory 
and the express image of His person, and upholding all things 
by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our 
sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." You 
see, that speaks to the blessed reality of the execution of that 
perfect work of redemption, when He had by Himself purged our 
sins. This language again has to do 
with a thorough cleansing a thorough cleansing. The word is used by 
the Baptist in the gospel accounts when he says that this coming 
Lord Christ will thoroughly cleanse or thoroughly purge his threshing 
floor. Jesus Christ comes in accordance 
with the plan, in accordance with the promise, and he executes 
perfectly the purging of our sins, the thorough cleansing 
of our iniquities. Hebrews 7, Hebrews 7 beginning 
in verse 20. We're not exhausting the Hebrews' 
witness, but we are spending some time in some of what Hebrews 
gives us. Hebrews 7 at verse 20, And inasmuch 
as he, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, was not made priest without 
an oath, for they have become priests without an oath, but 
he with an oath, by him who said to him, The Lord has sworn and 
will not relent. You are a priest forever according 
to the order of Melchizedek. By so much more, Jesus has become 
a surety of a better covenant. Also, there were many priests 
because they were prevented by death from continuing. But He, 
because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 
Therefore, He is also able to save, to the uttermost, those 
who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make 
intercession for them. You see, the opponents of the 
perseverance of the saints come to texts like this, and they 
crumble under the weight of the clarity of such texts. To come 
away from this and to say one who has been saved by the grace 
of God can ultimately and finally fall away from grace is to do 
violence and to do damage to the finished and ongoing work 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is an offense to that perfect 
work. Notice the language here in verse 
22. By so much more, Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. This language of surety has to 
do with the legal financial realm. You see, in finance, there is 
a creditor and a debtor. And there is one who serves as 
an advocate between the two to bring about reconciliation. That's 
sort of a thing. Here, Jesus Christ, or Jesus 
Christ in the scriptures, is set forth as a surety. His messianic work is one of 
surety ship. This is what John Gill says with 
regards to this. Interestingly, this is with him 
speaking on Jude 1, 24, and to present you faultless before 
the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Gil says this, 
to himself in this present state of things as washed in his blood 
and justified by his righteousness. and hereafter in the millennium 
state, and in the ultimate glory, and also to His Father. And this 
He died to do, and in some sense did at His death, even in the 
body of His flesh, through death, and now as the representative 
of His people in heaven, and will at the last day, when He 
will deliver them up complete and perfect, all which is in 
consequence of His suretyship engagements. You see, the Lord 
Jesus Christ is tasked with this task of being a surety ship, 
a surety of a better covenant. And so He comes, and He affects 
that, and He does that task perfectly. He executes historically the 
promised redemption, and brings about the efficacy and perfection 
of that redeeming work. Notice Hebrews 9, 11-15. Hebrews 
9, 11-15. We read these wonderful words, 
but Christ came as high priest of the good things to come with 
the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands 
that is not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and 
calves, but with his own blood he entered the most holy place 
once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the 
blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling 
the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much 
more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit 
offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience 
from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason 
He is the mediator of the new covenant by means of death, for 
the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that 
those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. You see, the blessed and inviolable 
confines of Hebrews 9, 11 to 15, Jesus Christ has affected, 
has obtained, has perfected eternal redemption. You know, we read 
Isaiah 66 this evening, and One of the things that the prophet 
is dealing with there when he's talking about the sacrifices 
being an abomination to him, it's not God himself ordained 
the sacrificial system. So some opponents of Christianity 
have pressed the issue and said, well, you see, God is inconsistent, 
or your Bible is. Because in Leviticus, he ordains 
and gives the nation of Israel the The ceremonial system of 
things the sacrificial system of things but then in the prophets 
he calls those things an abomination Well two things first off they 
were it was an abomination before him because they were doing it 
with emptiness and wickedness of heart they were not they were 
doing it and they were they were bringing a the blind and the 
lame to the temple, to the tabernacle. They were bringing stolen offerings 
and offering them up to God, and the priests themselves were 
thieves and wicked men. There is also a reality as we 
come to the new covenant though, where those sacrifices are an 
abomination because the once for all sacrifice has come to 
effect perfect redemption. All of those old covenant sacrifices 
were but types and shadows of the true sacrifice to come, the 
one who truly can take away sins and obtain eternal redemption. 
This is an interesting thing then, isn't it? It would have 
been a righteous thing for the Israelites, the day of atonement 
before Christ's redemption, to bring sacrifices in the temple 
and offer them up to God. But the day of atonement following 
Christ's redemption at Calvary, Christ's atonement at Calvary, 
those selfsame sacrifices were an abomination in His sight. 
Why? Because the once for all Lamb 
of God had come. The once for all sacrifice to 
come. And the argument of the book 
of Hebrews is why would you go back? Why would you go back to 
those things that can never take away sin but were only signposts, 
were only things that directed you to the coming and glorious 
Messiah, the real Lamb of God? Why would you depart, remain 
steadfast because this one has come once for all to affect the 
salvation of sinners? And finally Hebrews 10, Hebrews 
10 at verse 11, and every priest stands ministering daily and 
offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take 
away sins but this man. after He had offered one sacrifice 
for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that 
time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by 
one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. But the Holy Spirit also witnesses 
to us, for after He had said before, this is the covenant 
that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, I 
will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds I will write 
them. Then He adds, their sins and their lawless deeds I will 
remember no more. Now where there is remission 
of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. You see, 
Christ has affected it perfectly. He comes and He historically 
executes the work that the Father had sent Him to do. What about 
those words from the lips of our Savior Himself? We're still 
on the doctrine of perseverance in the perfect performance of 
God. Remember those seven sayings of the Lord Jesus Christ from 
the cross that one that Spurgeon said was rendered and left for 
his people is actually one word in the Greek to tell us that 
it is finished. Blessed words from the lips of 
our Savior from the cross. The Father is pouring out His 
wrath upon the Son. As He's pouring out His wrath 
on that propitiation for sins, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ 
has the spiritual wherewithal to cry out, it is finished. You've heard it before and you'll 
probably hear it at least 700 times before you die. unless 
that's soon, but you get to enter into glory. But this should oft 
be repeated because it speaks to the weight of those words, 
especially with our topic tonight. It is finished, to telestai in 
the Greek, it means the debt has been paid. That one word 
in whatever forms have been found on receipts and legal documents 
and economical transactions, The debt has been paid, nothing 
required, no longer anything in need to satisfy this debt. 
Jesus Christ leaves words for his saints. Remember, they would 
be in despair. They had all scattered, in fact, 
save for John and Mary before the cross. They would all be 
scattered, they would all be in despair, and yet word would 
come back to those who were not there, for fear had scattered, 
and they would hear that the lips of the Savior spoke those 
blessed words, it is finished, to give comfort to His people, 
knowing that what He promised would actually come to bear. 
It is finished, the redemption of my people, who for the joy 
that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, 
and has sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 
Lastly then, We have the doctrine of perseverance in the perfect 
power of God, the doctrine of perseverance in the perfect power 
of God, the application of salvation to those for whom Christ died 
and the abiding power of the sustaining God toward the same 
guarantees perseverance to the end. You see, so Christ comes 
in the fullness of the times and he executes historically 
the work that his father sent him to do in accordance with 
the plan, in accordance with the promise. And then towards 
his saints in his appointed and accepted time, God applies the 
benefits of the redeeming work of Christ. and He abides with 
them unto the very end. We're all well familiar with 
Ephesians 1, 3 to 14, aren't we? We spoke about that at the 
beginning. Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he goes on to speak concerning 
the loving predestination of the Father, the perfect redemption 
of Jesus Christ by the shedding of His blood and the sealing 
and the guaranteeing of the Holy Spirit. But what about that more 
concise version, if you will, that we find in 1 Peter 1, 3-5? 
1 Peter 1, 3-5, in fact there Peter 
begins with the same language. Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy 
has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection 
of Jesus Christ from the dead. to an inheritance incorruptible 
and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven 
for you, who are kept by the power of God for salvation, ready 
to be revealed in the last day. You see, the art, the doxologies 
that we have in our Bibles are absolutely rich with theology. 
It wasn't just that the apostles were sitting there, you know, 
in some sort of contained tower with their gray beards, dryly 
contemplating and writing things down. They rejoiced in the Savior 
who with their own eyes, they beheld His glory as of the only 
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And they 
could speak by the revelation of the Spirit concerning the 
richness of salvation. And in that doxology, does not 
Peter mount term and term and phrase upon phrase to magnify 
this truth that the Lord Jesus Christ is able to keep us from 
stumbling? Just think about what I just 
read to you in 1 Peter 1, 3 to 5. Look at the amplification 
and the multiplication and the adding up of phrases and terms. 1 Peter 3. 1, beginning in verse 
3. Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy 
has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection 
of Jesus Christ from the dead. Notice, now to an inheritance 
incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away. If you 
thought that this was just a threefold amplification of this blessed 
truth that Jesus Christ truly does save to the uttermost, he 
adds a fourfold and a fifth fold amplification reserved in heaven 
for you who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, 
ready to be revealed in the last time. Kept by the power of God. Our triune God saves to the uttermost 
all those who come nigh by the blood of Christ. So we have the 
doctrine of perseverance in the perfect plan of God, the doctrine 
of perseverance in the perfect promise of God, in the perfect 
performance of God, and then in the perfect power of God. Now, just a few closing observations 
and we'll pray. First off, this is to be, to 
the Christian, the stuff of soul comfort. What do we mean by that? When we are tried, when we are 
afflicted, when we doubt as Christians, when we have those seasons that 
our confession speaks of, where the rains and the clouds come 
and we see that we are at something of a distance from the countenance 
and the glory and the blessing of God, what is to be the boon 
to our Christian walk, but is a return unto the stuff of 1 
Peter 1, 3-5. We don't look inwardly, as A.N. Martin would once say, at the 
inner motions of the Spirit upon our own souls, in our own holiness, 
in our own walk with Christ. but rather we look to the finished 
work of the perfect Savior and the keeping power of the triune 
God. Spurgeon writes this with regards 
to soul comfort. I do not know how some people 
who believe that a Christian can fall away from grace manage 
to be happy. It has to be true. That is true. Well, that we don't 
understand how they could be because there is no true happiness. 
I do not know how some people who believe that a Christian 
can fall from grace manage to be happy. It must be a very commendable 
thing in them to be able to get through a day without despair. If I did not believe the doctrine 
of the final perseverance of the saints, I think I should 
be of all men the most miserable, because I should lack any ground 
of comfort. I could not say whatever state 
of heart I came into, that I should be like a wellspring of water 
whose stream fails not. I should rather have to take 
up the comparison of an intermittent spring that might stop on a sudden, 
or a reservoir which I had no reason to expect would always 
be full. I believe the happiest of Christians 
and truest of Christians are those who never dare to doubt 
God, but who trust his word simply as it stands and believe it. 
And we come to the scriptures and we read what it says, and 
we are to believe that, that Jesus Christ really is able to 
save to the uttermost. That He does, just like the Father, 
hold us in the inviolable grip of His sovereign and majestic 
hand. And no one and nothing, including ourselves, can snatch 
us from that blessed divine grip. This is the stuff of soul comfort. And it is to be soul stirring. That is, verse 25 follows verse 
24 in the book of Jude. To Him be glory and majesty, 
dominion and power, both now and forever. You see, these truths 
stir the soul. When Peter wrote this, he no 
doubt, or we have reason to suppose, that he wrote it with great joy, 
with a smile and a burning in his heart. You see, when we come 
across these doctrines in the Scriptures, it is as if we are 
to be those post-experience-with-Christ Emmaus Road disciples. That is, 
were our hearts not burning when we read the blessed text, when 
it spoke of Christ who preserves and Christ who keeps. You see, 
because we can so often, it is our propensity to look with eyes 
upon our own souls and see how we are doing in the kingdom. 
Self-examination is good. It is a thing the scriptures 
bring out. But far be it from any of us to hitch our caboose 
to the train of our own holiness at the point of preservation 
and assurance. We hitch our caboose to the inviolable 
train and the train that cannot be derailed of the glorious gospel 
of the saving Christ who saves to the uttermost with divine 
power. When we stumble, when we fall 
as Christians, when we have those times where we are struggling 
spiritually, we don't look to the inner emotions of our sanctified 
heart and our failings, but rather we look to Him alone who saves 
to the uttermost. We look to Father, Son and Holy 
Ghost. We look to the one who keeps 
us by his power unto that great day. And this is to be lastly 
and finally the stuff of soul motivation. What does that mean? 
Soul motivation. I just used soul three times 
there. But this is real soul motivation. What motivates us 
to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ? But it is this stuff of blessed 
theology. You see, it isn't the other way 
around. Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel 
of Christ so that you can keep yourself in the love of God, 
in his grace. But rather it is because the 
triune God, from first to last, midst and throughout, has saved 
you without a helper, unto the praise of His glorious name and 
grace, therefore live for His glory, so that those who cast 
their eyes upon you will have no reason to bring reproach upon 
the gospel, and no reason to blaspheme the Word of the living 
and true God. Use the stuff of perfect salvation 
from first to last to motivate you as you carry out your life 
in this lower world, growing in the grace and in the knowledge 
of Jesus Christ, the Savior. And once again, kids, adults, 
young and old, if you do not know this Savior savingly, if 
you come here and you know yourself to be outside of Christ Jesus 
in unbelief, know that Christ is such a Savior. such a supreme 
and efficacious and sufficient surety for your salvation. He came into this world, sinners 
to save, and that reality, when Gabriel announced to Joseph that 
you will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from 
their sins, that is most certainly true. And the Bible says that 
if you believe in him, you will have everlasting life. Well, 
let us pray. Heavenly Father, we rejoice in 
the scriptures and what we read concerning your preserving power. And we rejoice in the fact that 
you do keep us by your power, through faith, for salvation, 
ready to be revealed in the last day. We thank you that you have 
saved us by your grace, through the redemption of Jesus Christ, 
that this was your plan, that it was promised, that it was 
affected perfectly in history, and that it was applied by the 
Holy Spirit. And we do pray that you'd cause 
us to have great comfort in this lower world as we march forward 
to that great and final day. And we pray, Lord God, that you 
would cause us to sing your praises because of these blessed truths. 
And, Lord God, that it would motivate us in this lower world 
to live for your glory's sake. And we just pray that you'd go 
with us now, help us to rejoice in your name, to live for your 
glory, and to have many an opportunity to tell others of the riches 
and the excellencies of Jesus Christ, our saving King. And 
it's in his name that we pray. Amen.