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but it's grounded and founded 
upon the strength of our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
And that blessed stuff of paragraph two. We see here that the perseverance 
of the saints is intimately and necessarily connected to the 
immutability of God, the fact that our great God does not change, 
and it's connected to, intimately, the perfect work of Jesus Christ. 
And at all points of our salvation, that is what The saints find 
their salvation grounded upon, or founded upon, the perfection 
of the Triune God and the finished work of Jesus Christ. And isn't 
that where our hope is? Our hope isn't found in ourselves. 
Our hope isn't found in our own strength. Our hope is found upon 
the Triune God, the perfection of the work of Jesus Christ, 
and the amazing grace of God. So this chapter breaks down in 
three ways, simply all three paragraphs. First off, the fact 
of perseverance. Secondly, the foundation of perseverance. And thirdly, the difficulties 
endured in persevering. So first off, the fact of perseverance. And there are two things that 
are emphasized in this paragraph. The subjects of perseverance 
are identified, and the meaning of perseverance is set forth. the precious faith of his elect 
unto." So the framers of the Confession are drawing an inviolable 
line between these of salvation. If you take your confessions 
and you start with me at paragraph 1 of chapter 10 for a moment. So chapter 10, paragraph 1, notice 
how there is a deliberate building upon certain soteriological truths, 
that is certain truths about salvation, there's a building 
upon these things in the identification of the recipients of amazing 
grace. So notice in chapter 10 at paragraph 
1, those whom God hath predestinated unto life he is pleased in his 
appointed and accepted time effectually to call. So there's a connection 
between predestination and the effectual call or regeneration. Now notice in paragraph one of 
chapter 11, those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth. And then chapter 12, paragraph 
one, There is only one paragraph. All those that are justified, 
God vouchsafed, in and for the sake of His only Son, Jesus Christ, 
to make partakers of the grace of adoption. Thirteen one. They 
who are united to Christ, effectually called and regenerated, having 
a new heart and a new spirit created in them through the virtue 
of Christ's death and resurrection, are also farther sanctified really 
and personally. And then lastly, but not exhaustively, 
paragraph one of chapter fourteen, the grace of faith whereby the 
elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls 
is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts. So when 
we come to chapter 17, we see this pattern expanded upon. These are the recipients. There 
is no break in the blessed chain of redemption, is what I'm trying 
to get at. There are not some predestinated 
that then are not somehow regenerated. There are not some regenerated 
that then are not somehow justified, etc., etc. But all those predestinated 
unto life by our immutable God are secured unto salvation, unto 
that great day. And so, the chapter begins by 
stating the subjects of perseverance, they are the predestinated, they 
are the effectually called, they are the justified, the adopted, 
the sanctified, those who receive faith and repentance, and they 
are those, all of those, none lost, who will, on that great 
day, be eternally saved and worship their God for eternity. And so 
those who are the subjects of perseverance are simply those 
whom God has predestinated unto life. And it's good to reflect 
upon that blessed chain of redemption, that golden chain of redemption, 
as it has been called. It is inviolable. It's not a 
breakable chain. Our God has purposed, Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit have purposed, and they do in time and in history 
bring about that purpose, and they do so perfectly. So, Christians, 
the saints, those who are predestinated unto life are those who persevere 
unto the end, and there are none lost. Now, notice the significance 
of perseverance. Secondly, the significance of 
perseverance. So after we read, and given the 
precious faith of his elect unto, we see here the significance 
of perseverance, but also we could say the definition of it, 
can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace, 
but shall certainly persevere there into the end and be eternally 
saved, seeing the gifts and callings of God are without repentance. 
Now, just a note regarding that particular clause, because maybe 
you've wondered, well, what does that mean, seeing the gifts and 
callings of God are without repentance? Isn't repentance a gift of God? Well, they're using the language 
there in that language of Romans concerning God that God doesn't 
change his mind. So repentance there means that 
or what it means in the context there is the gifts and callings 
of God. God doesn't change his mind with regards to those. So 
when he predestinates and he effectually calls, he doesn't 
somehow change his mind and not persevere those. unto the end, 
unto that blessed day. So it has to do not with repentance 
as a saving grace, but with God not changing His mind as it pertains 
to the gifts and the callings that He pours out upon His saints 
in amazing grace. But the significance of perseverance 
is given here, and the definition of it, the saints can neither 
totally nor finally fall from the state of grace, but shall 
certainly persevere there into the end and be eternally saved. 
It's a blessed truth of Holy Scripture, that those whom God 
calls from darkness to light will be saved, will be protected, 
will be preserved by God, and they will persevere unto the 
end, not because of their own efficacy and strength, but because 
of that of the triune God, based upon the perfection of the work 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, where in our Bibles do we 
find that? There are many places that we 
can go, but I want to go to two for a moment, just to see the 
blessed language that the Bible brings forth regarding this doctrine. You can turn to John 10 with 
me for a moment. John chapter 10, if you were 
to ask me, give me one passage in the scripture about the perseverance 
of the saints, I believe I'd go to this passage, because it 
speaks to the inviolable grip of the Savior upon His people, 
the inviolable grip, therefore, of the triune God upon His people, 
because Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are of one power, one 
will, one substance, one eternity. So in John chapter 10, we want 
to move forward to Well, just to set the context, verse 22, 
so 1022 of the Gospel of John. Now, it was the Feast of Dedication 
in Jerusalem, and it was winter, and Jesus walked in the temple 
in Solomon's porch. Then the Jews surrounded Him 
and said to Him, How long do You keep us in doubt? If You 
are the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them I told you 
and you do not believe the works that I do in my father's name 
They bear witness of me But you do not believe because you are 
not of my sheep as I said to you My sheep hear my voice and 
I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life 
and they shall never perish Neither shall anyone snatch them out 
of my hand My father who has given them to me is greater than 
all and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand 
I and my Father are one." You see a blessed passage where from 
the lips of Jesus Christ Himself, He speaks to His sheep, and actually 
He's speaking to those who do not believe, those who are in 
opposition, the unbelieving Jews, in order to answer why they do 
not believe. They don't believe because they 
are not of His sheep. And we've been reminded in the 
past of the conspicuous order here with regards to these clauses. It's not, you are not my sheep 
because you do not believe, but rather, you do not believe because 
you are not of my sheep. It speaks to the sovereign purposes 
of God in election. But notice what we have here, 
not but, but and, notice what we have regarding the perseverance 
of the saints. My sheep hear my voice and I 
know them and they follow me. So the sheep hear the voice of 
the shepherd and they follow, but notice the foundation of 
it, I give them eternal life and they shall never perish, 
neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. Now the Armenian, 
or those opposed to the doctrines of grace, like to try and wriggle 
perseverance out of the truth of Holy Word here by saying, 
well, yeah, no one else can snatch them out of your hand, but they 
can somehow wiggle themselves out in some sort of weird way. 
However, they're trying to pull that from the Scriptures and 
steal away from blessed truth, the power of God and the grip 
of Christ. I don't know what they're doing. 
The text is clear. Christ emphasizes the inviolable 
grip of the mediator Christ, and that inviolable grip is based 
upon his substantial union with the Father. That Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit are not of three substances, three wills, or three 
powers, but rather one will, one power, one eternity, because 
Christ closes this particular discourse by saying, I and my 
Father are one. Not that unity there isn't primarily 
oneness of purpose, though they have oneness of purpose, but 
that oneness of purpose is founded upon the oneness of will, the 
oneness of substance, consubstantiality, the inviolable grip is because 
of the Father and of the Son, is because of their union in 
substance, and then by virtue of that, their union in will. 
They work indivisibly, they are indivisible, and their sovereign 
purpose cannot be frustrated. you can turn as well with me 
to a second passage here, Philippians 1 and chapter 6. Philippians 
1 and verse 6. So in Philippians, you might 
be familiar with this passage, I think many of you will be, 
because it's a very simple statement given, we don't want to say necessarily 
in passing because it's not, but it's a very short statement 
that captures the blessed doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. 
Notice here at verse 6 of 1 of Philippians, being confident, 
this is Paul, being confident of this very thing, that he who 
has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day 
of Jesus Christ. It's a very simple statement 
that captures the doctrine well in that one simple statement. 
Notice the blessed language. He who has begun a good work 
in you will complete it until the day of Christ. It has the 
weight of that announcement of the angel. You will call his 
name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. The 
same sort of language here of God will. that one who has begun 
a good work in us will complete it until the day of Christ. And 
that is the stuff of the blessed joy of the Christian reflecting 
upon the inviolable grip that the Savior has upon him, that 
our triune God has upon us. Moving a little bit on then, 
we're in the same paragraph, so we have those two statements 
simply stated, and now notice in the confession they're expanded 
upon. They're expanded upon a little 
bit. We see here the language, seeing the gifts and callings 
of God are without repentance, and now notice, once He still 
begets and nourisheth in them repentance, love, joy, hope, 
and all the graces of the Spirit unto immortality." So there we 
see the abiding power that lies behind the perseverance of the 
saints. It is the giving by God to His 
people constant supplies of faith, repentance, love, joy, hope. And if there was anything missed 
there, all the graces of the Spirit unto immortality. And 
so the perseverance of the saints, as we'll see in paragraph two 
in a moment, is built upon a number of things related to the triune 
God and the perfect work of Jesus Christ. And then in the life 
of the Christian, the Spirit is active in nourishing them, 
God is active in nourishing these blessed elements of divine and 
amazing grace unto immortality. So, that statement of the perseverance 
of the saints, the definition of it, at the beginning of the 
paragraph is expanded upon with the cause of perseverance. It 
is the saving grace of God. And secondly, we notice here 
obstacles under the expanded under the second half of the 
paragraph that expands upon the doctrine, we see here obstacles 
to perseverance. It says here, after all the graces 
of the Spirit unto immortality, it says, and though many storms 
and floods arise and beat against them, and then later, though 
through unbelief, Through unbelief and the temptations of Satan, 
the sensible sight of the light and love of God may for a time 
be clouded and obscured from them." So there are obstacles 
that we have to perseverance. There are many storms. There 
are There are many storms and floods that arise and beat against 
us. And don't we know this as Christians? Now, we may not have, 
and by divine design and by divine providence, we're not in the 
Middle East, we're not in China, we're not in these places where 
there is hot persecution such that we might never know. But 
we still have storms. We still have floods. We still 
have things that assail us. We have a devil against us, as 
we'll see later in paragraph three. We have a devil opposed 
to us. We have a flesh that assails 
us. And we have the world and its 
allurements that are opposed to us. And so, we do have floods 
and storms that beat against us. And yet, God is the better. He is the stronger. Christ is 
the victor. And that's what the paragraph 
goes on to say. So, many obstacles to perseverance, 
but notice the assurance that comes after that. Yet, at the 
end of the paragraph there, about four lines up, Yet He is still 
the same, and they shall be sure to be kept by the power of God 
unto salvation, where they shall enjoy their purchased possession, 
they being engraven upon the palms of His hands, and their 
names having been written in the book of life from all eternity." 
So in those storms and floods, when we are assailed from so 
many angles, we can be confident that there is a God unchanging. 
who has purposed to bring us unto that great day by His grace 
and for His glory." So, notice the language, a very simple statement 
here at the beginning, yet He is still the same. Isn't that 
blessed language that our God is still the same? Because we 
are changing. We are mutable, and hopefully 
you guys Realize that about yourselves as you consider, you reflect 
upon your own lives, and you look in your own mirrors, and 
you look at yourselves. We're mutable. We change. We 
have highs and lows. We have ups and downs. There 
are times where the sun of our Christian lives is shining. There 
are times, though, when the storms do roll in, and it seems as if 
God is far from us. We sin. We violate the law of 
God. We sin, we're restored unto repentance. We sin, we're restored unto repentance. We are changing creatures. But 
the Creator of all things is immutable, impassable, without 
body parts and passions, never changing. And so because He has 
purposed, because He has set a plan, I was gonna say in motion, 
he doesn't set plans in motion and then leave them to be. Because 
he is ever active in his immutability towards us, we can be sure that 
on that great day, he will welcome us in to the beauty of his kingdom, 
to the beauty of paradise, based upon his glorious Christ. So we have those blessed assurances 
of perseverance, the rock of our salvation. And previously, 
going back to that first clause, it kind of introduces the obstacles, 
then gives an assurance, then presents obstacles, and then 
gives assurance. Notice, and though many storms 
and floods arise and beat, this is the middle of the paragraph, 
against them, yet they shall never be able to take them off 
that foundation and rock which by faith they are fastened upon. 
Isn't that a blessed truth as well? We're fastened upon the 
rock of our salvation. We don't have a God that is some 
sort of malleable clay. We don't have a God that is somehow, 
in His attributes, malleable, changing one day, changing the 
next. staying, you know, loving us 
a particular degree on one day, but then loving us less the next 
day. He is absolute and most loving. He is perfect in all of his divine 
perfections, and he keeps us and sustains us and restores 
us. Moving on then to paragraph two 
in the foundation of perseverance, there are three things largely 
notable here in paragraph two. First, that perseverance does 
not hang upon the redeemed Christian. Secondly, that perseverance is 
assured by the unchangeable nature and plan of God. And then three, 
that this communicates certainty and is the ground of perseverance's 
victory. So notice first off negatively, 
that perseverance does not hang upon the operations of the redeemed 
man, the first clause of the paragraph. This perseverance 
of the saints depends not upon their own free will. You see, 
this is why we sometimes qualify the perseverance of the saints 
as preservation by God. Because the perseverance of the 
saints, perhaps to some untaught and unstable, they might consider 
that, well, wow, the strength of the Christian then, that by 
his own vigor and strength, he retains himself in the kingdom, 
and by his exertion and operation and action, he somehow saves 
himself in the grand scheme of things. No, it is preservation 
by God, and so this perseverance of the saints depends not upon 
their own free will. The divines here want to be sure 
that nobody misunderstands the nature of perseverance, that 
it is not the strength of man, it's not the will of man, it's 
not by his will or by his willing, but by the will of God and the 
mercy of God. So, negatively, perseverance, 
of course, is not by the free will of man. So, what is it by 
then? What is the foundation for our 
perseverance? Well, we've already noted it 
a number of times, but here we have now the explicit content 
of the foundation of perseverance. So, positively, what is perseverance 
built upon? Well, first off, we see that 
it is built upon the immutability of the decree of election flowing 
from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father. So that 
first element, that first blessed branch in the tree of perseverance 
is the immutable election, the immutable decree of election 
by God the Father. You can turn to Romans 8 for 
a moment because there we have some language that hopefully 
is familiar to all of you regarding that immutability of the decree 
of election. Notice in Romans 8 at verse 30, Whom He called, these He also 
justified, and whom He justified, these He also glorified." We 
noted earlier the blessed chain of redemption. Well, this is 
where we have it. The predestinated are also called, 
so there are none lost. The called are also justified, 
none lost. And the justified, these are 
also glorified, none lost. That is the immutability of the 
decree of election. God elects, He predestinates, 
and none of those are lost. There is not mutability to that 
decree. He does not revoke it. His gifts 
and callings are without repentance, and He keeps those who are predestinated 
unto the bliss of everlasting life. So it's built upon the 
immutability of the decree of election, but notice that that 
decree of election is not just some dry, inert, it's not some 
just dry mechanism. It's not just this faceless, 
impersonal mechanism of election. It's not fate. What do we find 
here is that it flows from the free and unchangeable love of 
God the Father. The decree of election, that 
blessed reality of predestination, flows from the love of God. It 
is love that is at the root and the foundation. Because God is 
love, therefore His immutable decree of election flows from 
that. It is the blessed reality that 
predestination is built upon the love of Father, Son, and 
Holy Spirit. If you're still in Romans 9, 
we actually see that in the language of verses 11 and then connecting 
it to verse 16. But, well, just Romans 9, 10. 
And not only this, but when Rebekah also had conceived by one man, 
even by our father Isaac, for the children not yet being born, 
nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according 
to election might stand, not of works but of him who calls, 
it was said to her, the older shall serve the younger. As it 
is written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." So you 
see, without this idea, this parenthetical inclusion of the 
Apostle Paul here, where he writes, jettisons any notion that God, 
before the foundation of the world, looked through the tunnels 
of time and saw who would believe, saw who would exercise faith, 
and then elects them based upon their own operations and actions. 
It casts that off into the dung heap of bad theology, and it 
sets forth the free purpose of God, the free will of God, The 
loving election and predestination of God, and it, again, does not 
allow for any notion that man is the foundation of his own 
election. It is God out of love, it is 
God by grace, it is God according to his own immutable decree. 
Notice the confession goes on to say, upon the efficacy of 
the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ and union with him. You know, at all points of the 
foundation, we would want to note that to say that the Christian 
can be lost finally and totally is to do violence to grace, to 
mercy, to love, to election, to all of these blessed doctrines. Think about it here for a moment, 
that if the Christian can totally and finally be lost, if Christians 
can lose their salvation, doesn't that do absolute violence and 
damage to the finished work of Jesus Christ? Doesn't that cast 
mud upon the cross of Christ? The language here is that our 
perseverance is founded upon the efficacy of the merit and 
intercession of Jesus Christ. So for anyone to say that the 
Christian can finally be lost isn't an affront to the Christian 
necessarily, it's an affront to the Christ who came to save 
that Christian, to save that believer. This is why it's a 
horrible doctrine to oppose the perseverance of the saints. because 
it does violence to the immutability of the decree of election, it 
does violence to the love of God the Father, and it does violence, 
as we're noting here, to the efficacy and the merit of Jesus 
Christ. You can turn to the book of Hebrews 
for a moment just to have a look at something here. the book of 
Hebrews is replete with the language of perseverance, rooting it to, 
or connecting it to, inviolably, the finished work of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. So notice for, notice, well, 
I'm in Romans still. Notice in Hebrews, and you can 
turn to, you can turn to Hebrews 9. There are a number of, we'll 
actually turn to the, turn to Hebrews 7 for a moment. We'll 
go there first. Notice that chapter 7, book of 
Hebrews, verse 26, Paul is contrasting here the ineffectual work of 
that old and dying priesthood to the perfect work and the efficacious 
work of Jesus Christ, the high priest, to whom all those old 
priests pointed. Notice verse 26, speaking of 
Christ, for such a high priest was fitting for us, who is holy, 
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become 
higher than the heavens, who does not need daily as those 
high priests to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins and then 
for the people's. For this he did once for all 
when he offered up himself. For the law appoints as high 
priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath which 
came after the law appoints the Son who has been perfected forever." 
Now notice actually previously to that as well, verse 23, Also, 
there were many priests, because they were prevented by death 
from continuing, but He, because He continues forever, has an 
unchangeable priesthood." There's that language of immutability 
again. That language of unchangeableness. He 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, our Our perseverance 
is grounded in the finished work of Christ, but then the ongoing 
intercession of Christ by virtue of that finished work. He has 
that perfect priesthood. He's offered up the perfect sacrifice 
once for all, and now He appears before God on our behalf, always 
interceding for us. He always lives to make intercession 
for them. So to reject the perseverance 
of the saints is to cast mud upon the always interceding Christ. He ever lives to make intercession 
for us. The confession goes on to say 
the oath of God. So, this perseverance is founded 
upon the oath of God. If you're in the book of Hebrews 
still, you can turn to Hebrews chapter 6. Notice Hebrews 6 at 
verse, Hebrews 6 at verse 17. Thus God, determining to show 
more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability, 
there's the word again, of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath 
that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for 
God to lie, we might have strong consolation who have fled for 
refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. There is something 
in the background with that language of in which it is impossible 
for God to lie within the context of oath and promise. And it is 
the promise of the new covenant. It's the promise that He will 
put His Spirit within us so that we will not depart from Him. 
That was the promise of God with regards to the new covenant. 
He will put His Spirit within us for a particular purpose, 
and that is that we might not depart from Him, but that we 
would ever and always, though intermingled with weakness and 
corruption, we might ever and always glorify Him in this lower 
world until we are brought into the bliss of Emmanuel's land 
where sinlessly we will proclaim His praises forever. and so it's 
built upon the oath of God. It's also built, next, and fourthly, 
upon the abiding of His Spirit and the seed of God within them. Turn to Ephesians for a moment, 
just to see this fourth foundation upon which our perseverance rests. In the book of Ephesians, and 
in chapter 1, at the end of that great triune doxology, we have 
the language applied to the spirit of preservation. Notice in Ephesians 
1 at verse 13, In him you also trusted after you heard the word 
of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having 
believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. So, 
the Holy Spirit of promise, what did we just note? That old covenant 
promise that the Lord God would put His Spirit within us so that 
we might not depart from Him. And so here, Paul, resting upon 
that blessed language of the promise of the Spirit, he says, 
you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. He goes on, 
who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the possession of the purchased 
possession to the praise of His glory. So we have the Spirit 
given to us, and that Spirit is a guarantor. He secures something. is, in a sense, like Christ, 
though in a different sense. He is like a surety that retains 
something and that argues for something until the time of the 
redemption of the purchased possession. He guarantees our inheritance. 
It speaks to a sort of a legal fiscal language, that there is 
something certain about the inheritance that we have been given by God. He is. And notice this would 
be, again, to reject the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints 
is to do violence to the power of the Holy Spirit. This language 
of appropriation here, divine power ascribed to the spirit 
in persevering, in preserving the saints unto the end. to reject 
the doctrine of perseverance is to do violence to the power 
and the efficacy of the Holy Spirit of promise. He is our 
guarantor. He is the one who secures our 
redemption. This blessed language of until. 
The Holy Spirit has been given to us so that we might be preserved 
until that Purchased possession is enjoyed, that redemption, 
speaking here of glorification, the redemption of the purchased 
possession. When we enter into Emmanuel's 
land, it will be by the maintaining and sustaining power of God, 
it will be by virtue of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ, 
and it will be by the power of the Holy Spirit. The confession 
does go on with some additional clauses though. So we have the 
abiding of His Spirit and the seed of God within them. Now 
notice those are two different things that are stated there 
before we move on to point number five here under the foundation 
of perseverance. So we have the abiding of His 
Spirit, and we also have the seed of God within them. In this 
sense, the seed of God, excuse me, is different from the Spirit. So the seed of God is probably 
that implanted principle of grace that has been given by the Spirit 
of God to believers. That posture by which we navigate 
our Christian lives, that posture by which we engage in those things 
which are pleasing in God's sight through Jesus Christ, His Son. 
We have new hearts. We have a renewed mind. We no 
longer conduct ourselves after the manner of the prince of the 
power of the air. We no longer conduct ourselves 
according to the primacy of an overbearing flesh. We no longer 
conduct ourselves by virtue of the allurements of the world 
around us, but we conduct ourselves by virtue of the principle of 
grace implanted in us by the power and the Spirit of God. 
And so that is a two-fold thing there, the abiding of His Spirit 
and the seed of God within Him, which is implanted by the Spirit 
of God Himself. You can make a note of 1 John 
3, 9 in that regard. And then lastly, the last clause 
with regards to the foundation of perseverance is set forth 
here as, and upon the nature of the covenant of grace. and 
upon the nature of the covenant of grace. And we've already noted 
that. Remember the language of the covenant of grace in Jeremiah 
31, 31 to 34. God gives us the forgiveness 
of sins. He states that all of us will 
know Him. That we will have the law written 
upon our hearts, not creatively, not creationally, but redemptively 
written upon our hearts, so that we might do those things that 
are pleasing in God's sight, accepted through God, His Savior. 
God, our Savior, rather. So, this reality of the nature 
of the covenant of grace, nature is emphasizing here the certainty 
and the inviolability of it. You see, the old covenant, the 
nature of it is that it was violable. It could be broken. In fact, 
that's one of God's points in that leading up to the inviolability 
of the new covenant. He says, that covenant which 
you broke, though I was a husband to you, says the Lord. And so 
that old covenant could be broken, but the nature of the covenant 
of grace is such that it is inviolable. It is unbreakable. Why? it's 
because it is grounded in the shed blood of the Savior, the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and upon the immutability of Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit. So we have those blessed things 
as the foundations for our perseverance. So with this list in view, that 
any Christian could rail against the perseverance of the saints 
brings up the question, is that a Christian at all? Pressed with 
the truth, pressed with divine realities, pressed with these 
blessed things, might the professing Christian always rest in the 
completed work of Christ and the perfection of the triune 
God in the salvation of sinners. I think when those who are brought 
forth from darkness to light are impressed upon with the weight 
of the truth of Holy Scripture and the doctrines of grace, they 
will ultimately and finally rest upon the truth as it's brought 
forth in the pages of Scripture. So lastly, we have the difficulties 
endured in persevering. The difficulties endured in persevering, 
and that's paragraph three. And though they may, through 
the temptation, well, let's just notice first the reality and 
causes of backsliding. So, first off, under the difficulties 
endured and persevering, we have the realities, the reality and 
causes of backsliding. And though they may, through 
the temptation of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of 
corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means 
of their preservation, fall into grievous sins, and for a time 
continue therein." So notice there is a reality to backsliding, 
and there are causes to it. And what are the causes brought 
out here? There are four of them. We often 
think about that threefold enemy. the devil, the world, and the 
flesh. And that's what's brought out 
here, and though they may through the temptation of Satan, and 
of the world, and the prevalency of corruption remaining in them. 
So that threefold opponent of the souls of Christians is brought 
forth with regards to a cause for backsliding. But then notice, 
there's a fourth which may be connected to the third, but we 
see here also the neglect of the means of their preservation. So what the confession brings 
out that traditional threefold source of temptation, but adds 
a fourth and what do we think? What do we think might be in 
view here when we read in the neglect of the means of their 
preservation? There are a number of things that the Confession 
is getting at here, and I believe there are chapters that we could 
go to to see this. Just in sum, chapter 22 would 
be a chapter that we could go to regarding the neglect of the 
means of their preservation. Also chapters 28, 29, and 30. 
Chapter 22 is of religious worship and the Sabbath 
day, and there are brought out a number of things such as prayer, 
the reading of the word, the sacraments, and other things 
such as fastings and thanksgivings, which are the means of our preservation. We could also look at 28, 29, 
and 30, which are of baptism in the Lord's Supper pertain 
to those two ordinances. And so, prayer is, first off, 
a means of our preservation. The practice of drawing near 
to God, that exercise of faith whereby we come to God with boldness, 
bringing forth petitions, thanksgivings, prayers, intercessions, supplications, 
all of those things, that is a means whereby we are preserved 
by God. We come to Him in prayer. We 
commune with God. We worship God. We show our submission 
and our joy in God in speaking to Him in prayer. And we see 
this linked to perseverance in a number of places. One of them 
is in Luke 22, 46, in the garden. You need not turn there. But 
in the garden, the Lord Jesus Christ sees His disciples, or 
comes to His disciples, and He says, Rise and pray, lest you 
enter into temptation. Christians are to rise and pray 
lest we enter into temptation. We might not be in the presence 
of the incarnate Christ. He has ascended unto the right 
hand of the majesty on high. But nevertheless, we are to follow 
his exhortation that we are to pray lest we enter into temptation. We could also note Philippians 
4, 4 to 7, where we see an antidote to worry, a means of keeping 
keeping us in that peace of God that surpasses all understanding, 
is to come to God with prayer and supplication mingled with 
thanksgiving. And so it is by prayer that we 
are preserved. It is by the hearing of the Word 
that we are preserved. The Word is truth. The Lord's 
Prayer in John 17, He says, So the means of our preservation, 
or one of them, is availing of the Word of God, reading it ourselves, 
hearing it read at church. hearing it preached at church, 
availing ourselves of those implanted verses that we've memorized. 
Perhaps we're away from our Bible, away from our phones, and we 
need to reflect upon the Word of God. There are verses that 
we have memorized, truths that we have summed up in our minds. 
We can reflect upon those things. Hearing the Word and reflecting 
upon the Word is a means whereby we are Well, first off, we're 
brought forth by the Word of God and the Spirit of God in 
our salvation. It's by, hearing comes, or faith 
comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, but also 
our preservation comes by virtue of the hearing of the Word. Also, 
the seeing of the Word. We noted baptism in the Lord's 
Supper. Those ordinances or those sacraments are means whereby 
our grace is strengthened. In fact, in chapter 14 at paragraph 
one, We see that laid out. The grace of faith, whereby the 
elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, 
is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is 
ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word, by which also, and 
by the administration of baptism in the Lord's Supper, prayer 
and other means appointed by God, it is, note, increased and 
strengthened. And so when we do not avail of 
those things which are means appointed by God, our faith is 
decreased and weakened. And so they are the means of 
our preservation. You could also note chapter 30 
and paragraph 1 speaks to the same truth. regarding the Lord's 
Supper, how we are fed, nourished, strengthened by participating 
in that blessed ordinance. Another thing that is the means 
of our preservation is the fellowship with other Christians, our fellowship 
with other Christians assembling together and exhorting one another. The language of Acts 2 regarding 
the early church is such that the saints are assembled together 
in apostolic doctrine, in the breaking of bread, and all of 
those blessed things. A means of our preservation is 
fellowship with other Christians. And that's not simply, you know, 
that's not to be seen as idle talk or, well, definitely not 
idol talk, but not common talk, but sacred things. You know, 
coming together in worship, singing together. Remember in the New 
Testament, when we gather together and we sing songs and hymns and 
spiritual songs, it's to God, but the text also says that it's 
to one another, that we sing to one another. So when we sing 
of the blessings of our triune God and the glories of our Christ, 
we're singing to one another. We're encouraging one another, 
we're lifting each other up. So when we stand and we open 
the hymn book to whatever page it is, don't stand up and just 
sort of rotely go through the exercise of singing. But remember, 
take in those words and remember that you're encouraging the hearts 
of people around you. We don't know what's going on 
in the hearts and the minds of other believers around us. There 
might be a word, there might be a stanza that you sing with 
a booming voice that lifts their soul out of spiritual despondency. And so we need to sing to them. 
We need to gather together the assembly of the saints for the 
strength of our perseverance. And then also a diligence, a 
persistent forward motion on the right path. The Apostle Paul 
writes to the Philippians, in Philippians 1 at verse 27, he 
says, And so that is to be. Now, we're going to stumble. 
We're going to fail. We know that. The confession 
says that. The Bible says that. But as a general rule, we are 
to be such that are striving together, that are exerting an 
energy, that are persistently moving forward on the right path 
with each other in order that we might prove that perseverance 
that God has implanted in us and that God brings about. There 
are apostolic exhortations in the Bible to diligence given 
within the context of the reality of perseverance. 2 Corinthians 
8.7, the language of not in vain and saints abounding in it. Actually, that's the language 
of 2 Corinthians 8.7. And then the lack of a vanity 
in our walk with Christ in excuse me, 1 Corinthians 15, 
58. But notice the language that the confession closes with. So 
there are a number of results to backsliding that we read here. 
Notice the language that the confession goes on to say, we 
fall into grievous sins, we for a time continue therein, in those 
grievous sins, we incur God's displeasure, grieve His Holy 
Spirit, we have our graces and comforts impaired, our hearts 
hardened, our consciences wounded, we hurt and scandalize others 
and bring temporal judgments upon ourselves. Remember the 
language of the Lord's Supper, Paul's writing to the Corinthians 
in 1 Corinthians 11, in the language of the Lord's Supper. Those who 
were abusing the Lord's Supper, God judged with death. Those 
who were being drunkards, those who were being gluttons at the 
Lord's Supper, God judged them with death. And so there are 
temporal judgments that can be brought about by a lack of attendance 
unto the means of our salvation and the act of hurting and scandalizing 
others, thereby bringing temporal judgments upon us. But notice, 
yet they shall renew their repentance and be preserved through faith 
in Christ Jesus to the end. You see, this is why we are to 
have hope. Not because we out of some great 
strength of our own renew our repentance, but rather because 
even though we fall, even though we stumble, even though we trip, 
even though we fail, even though we sin, we are such that have 
been kept by God, are being kept by God, are secured by the triune 
God based upon the perfection of the work of Christ and the 
abiding power and presence of the Holy Spirit. We ought to 
note, though, that our doctrine is not the doctrine of what some 
have called eternal security, where we can sin like devils 
and still be saved, where we can sort of make a profession 
and then just go about sinning. No, the Christian always is such 
that, yes, they'll sin. Yes, there will be times where 
that flesh is lusting against the Spirit. But remember that 
the Spirit overcomes the flesh. The Spirit overcomes the devil. 
The Spirit overcomes the world by virtue of the sustaining power 
of the triune God. And so we are to persevere. We 
are to heed the exhortations to conduct ourselves in a manner 
worthy of the gospel of Christ knowing that there is a blessed 
God who saves us unto that great day. Well, let us pray. Heavenly 
Father, we thank you for your truth. We rejoice in this doctrine 
of grace, the perseverance of the saints, the fact that you 
preserve us unto the end. We thank you for the immutability 
of your decree of election. We thank you for the merit and 
intercession of Jesus Christ. We thank you for the abiding 
of your spirit. We thank you for the blessings 
of your oath and the perfection of the covenant of grace. We 
do just pray that you'd help us, Lord God, to rejoice in you, 
to have that grace daily and strength daily, whereby we might 
conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus 
Christ, knowing that we rest upon the perfection of the triune 
God, and on the perfection of the finished work of Christ. 
And it's in His name that we pray. Amen.