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Sermon preached at the AMBC English service October 2022
Last week there was a question from the pulpit. Some of you will remember that. Okay, how's this? This okay? All right. Yeah, last week there was a question from the pulpit. What is the difference between a Baptist and a Christian?
Who remembers that? Who is here? When I heard that I laughed and then I thought, you know, that'd be a really interesting sermon. And then after the service, Pastor Peter asked me to preach. So then I really started thinking, I don't know what I would do with that.
So I chose another topic. And speaking of choosing, from what I understand, there are at least a few people here who their favorite flower is the tulip. Then I also understand there's a few people, that is not their favorite flower.
Some of you wondering what am I talking about. If you've heard of the five points of Calvinism, it's laid out in the acrostic tulip. T for total depravity, U for unconditional election, L stands for limited atonement, I, irresistible grace, and then the P, the P stands for the perseverance of the saints.
Well, I decided that the subject I'm going to preach on tonight is the P in tulip, the perseverance of the saints, because that's one point, that's one one part of the acrostic that both Baptists and Christians agree on.
So if you would, all joking aside, let's turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 15. 1st Corinthians chapter 15. So the title of this evening's message is, The Perseverance of the Saints. The word perseverance is defined this way, persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.
So as born-again baptized believers in Christ, we must, okay, we must keep the faith. We must endure. We must persist. We must persevere. The Apostle John wrote in 3rd John verse 4, there's only one chapter, I didn't make a mistake, 3rd John verse 4, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
And John was sort of like a spiritual father to the church, and for us as pastors, you know, it's such a joy to see people come to faith in the Lord and and be baptized and grow in their faith, but it's very, very painful to see people fall away from the faith.
Even though the scripture tells us this will happen, for example, Jesus said in Luke chapter 18 verse 8, he said, when I return, will I really find faith on the earth? And the clear implication is, yes, he will, but he won't find very much.
That seems to line up with the Apostle Paul's statements in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 3, how before the day of the Lord can come, there must be a great falling away from the faith. This is just my personal opinion.
I believe we are living through the falling away. It's quite clear to anyone who's paying attention, people are dropping out of churches left and right. People are abandoning the Christian faith at an alarming rate.
It's very, very difficult to watch this because God for pastors, and I know Pastor Peter can attest to this, God has given pastors a great care and concern for the flock. We have been entrusted as overseers in part of that responsibility.
It's not just care and concern, but part of that responsibility is to warn the flock of God. So in a message like this, it's going to be an encouragement to those who have ears to hear, those who have true faith in Jesus Christ.
I believe it'll be an encouragement, but also a warning to some because anytime a message like this is preached, I know there's at least one person sitting here or some listening online, there's somebody who a year from now will no longer be in church or five years from now will no longer be walking with the Lord.
Some might renounce their faith altogether. So would you please stand for the reading of God's holy, infallible, and inspired word. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, we'll read verses 1 and 2. The Apostle Paul writes, moreover brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain.
And may God add a blessing to the reading of his word. You may be seated. So what's the message? The perseverance of the saints. The Greek word histemi translated stand, and that verse we just read, stand in verse 1 refers to something that is firm, something that is that is fixed or established.
It can also be translated or defined to cause a person or a thing to keep his or its place, to uphold the authority of or sustain the force of anything. So let's turn to John chapter 10 at this point, John chapter 10.
So we need to stand, amen? We need to persist, persevere, we need to stand. John chapter 10 and just a few comments on this term perseverance of the saints. Some people will respond negatively to it because it makes it sound like that word perseverance, it makes it sound like that it depends on us.
This is the one problem with it. It makes it sound like it depends on you. You and your strength, you have to persevere. Now it's true, a true believer in Christ will persevere to the end, but we persevere not because of our strength and our power, we persevere because of him, because of the Lord and in his strength, in his power.
Therefore, some have said that instead of perseverance of the saints, it would be more apt to call it the preservation of the saints. More on that in just a moment. We'll look at John 10 starting in verse 26.
John 10 verse 26, Jesus says, but you do not believe me 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. So to follow him means to become his disciple.
I think there's a difference, there shouldn't be a difference, but if you ask somebody, are you a Christian? They might say yes. Do you believe in Jesus? Yes. Are you following Jesus? And that can kind of change things a little bit.
But when Jesus says follow me, he's saying become my disciple. Now that might start in a moment in time. I think it does start in a moment in time, but overall it's a lifelong journey from the time that you first believe to the end of your natural life.
You believe, you get baptized, you grow in the faith, you grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, and we are to be conformed to his image. Let me ask that question for you. You can just ponder it in your own mind.
Are you being conformed to the image of Christ? You might say you believe in Christ, you might call yourself a Christian, but are you being conformed to the image of Christ? Every true believer will be conformed to the image of Christ.
How do I know that? Because Paul said in Romans chapter 8 that all believers are predestined unto that. You know, if something is predestined, it cannot not happen, right? If God predestined something, it will happen.
Romans 8, 29 and 30. Believers are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. Let's continue in John chapter 10, verse 27. Again, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall what?
What does it say? 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. So we believe that true Christians have what I would call eternal security, but historically the term is the perseverance of the saints. So if you take notes, write this down.
A Christian isn't preserved because he perseveres. He perseveres because he is preserved. All right, so I'll say it again. So the title is perseverance of the saints. We must endure, and we must persist in the faith, but we only persevere because God preserves us.
Therefore, a Christian isn't preserved because he perseveres. We persevere because we are preserved by God. So the first point I want to make, which is so common within evangelical Christianity, is the misleading doctrine known as once saved, always saved.
So there's these terms, perseverance of the saints, eternal security. We're talking about the same thing, but some people call it once saved, always saved, and if you believe that, you know, it's true.
If you are saved, you will always be saved. So it's a true statement. I believe, you can mark it down, I believe in once saved, always saved, but it is very misleading for some people. Why is that? Why is it misleading?
There's other terms you could talk about, easy believism, cheap grace. Who's heard of cheap grace? You know, grace isn't cheap. It's actually free. Of course, even that term free grace has negative connotations because it gives people the idea that I can just say a prayer, I can be baptized, or maybe I was baptized as a baby, or I said a prayer at some point in my childhood, and now I can, I'm saved, and I'll always be saved, so now I can kind of live like the devil, and it doesn't really matter because once saved, always saved.
But here's the thing, there is the possibility of a false profession, isn't there? There are people who say they believe in Jesus, but they don't necessarily really believe in Jesus. I'll just give you part of my personal testimony.
I said the sinner's prayer when I was, I remember doing it, I remember where I was, I think I was something like four or five years old, but I wasn't saved until I was 25 years old. Now I'm not gonna judge other people, you know, who am I to judge someone else's profession of faith, but I can judge my own.
Can I judge my own? I think I can. I said the sinner's prayer when I was five. I wasn't saved until I was 25. Don't get me wrong, I believe people can be saved by saying something like a sinner's prayer.
For all who call upon the name of the Lord, the Bible says, shall be saved. So I believe you can say a prayer and be sincere and truly be saved. Don't get me wrong, but I know that I said the prayer and I wasn't.
So there is a false profession of faith. If you had asked me when I was a teenager, Mike, do you believe in God? Do you believe in God? What would I have said? I probably would have said yes. Okay, James 2 19 says, you believe that there is one God?
You do well, but even the demons believe that and they tremble. I wasn't trembling. So again, I'm not saying that a person cannot be saved by saying something like a sinner's prayer, but I do know there must be, here's the thing, there must be a personal conversion of the heart.
There must be a personal conversion. What did Jesus say? Ye must be born again. And that can be literally rendered, you must be born from above. The thing that concerns me, I think, the most as a pastor is that there's just all these people out there saying they're Christians and they're not.
Instead, many, and again, I'm not the one to say who is and who isn't. That's not the point. But the Bible talks about this. There are many who are false converts. And you know, I think that explains the large numbers of people that are falling away.
It was a, it was the thing to do in the United States to be a Christian. If you were an American, you were a Christian, right? A generation or two ago that people would joke about that. That's just the way it was.
Of course I'm a Christian. I'm an American. That wasn't true back then. It's certainly not true now. Nobody even says that now. No one would dare say that now. It would be a joke. But I think that explains why so many people fall away, because they were never truly one of Christ's sheep to begin with.
Jesus said, my sheep do what? They hear his voice. Okay, so let's talk about this idea of being a false convert. I think the most famous false convert of all has to be Judas Iscariot. I mean, here, he was an apostle for goodness sakes.
Judas claimed to believe in Jesus. But was Judas saved? No, I mean, he's one man you can be certain that was not saved. So that's proof there are false converts. And then in Matthew chapter 7, Jesus said, in the Sermon on the Mount, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
But he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you.
Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Oh, but but they claim Christ. They can say to Jesus, but we we said we believed in you. I never knew you. They were not listening to the voice of the shepherd.
See, there has to be more than just intellectual assent in your mind. It has to be a full trust from the heart. And I think there was a generation of people who never really heard this type of preaching.
They were told, say the prayer, say the words, I'll even give you the words for you. And I'm not down on anyone who's done that because people do need to make a profession of faith. But they never heard the other side.
That's what I think happened. So what's the difference then? Okay, we get it. There's true converts. There are false converts. How do you know? How do you know? Well, I think in some ways you can know.
You can know a little bit. Let's turn to Mark chapter 4. Mark chapter 4, this is the parable of the sower. For the sake of time, we're not going to read the whole thing. We're just going to go straight to Jesus and his interpretation.
Have you ever read the parables and you read through it, you know, what's going on here? And then Jesus gives the interpretation. And then you think, well, I wish he would give an interpretation of the interpretation.
Have you ever thought that? Well, I think this one's clear enough. Verse 13, and he said to them, do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word.
And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. These, likewise, are the ones on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness.
And they have no root in themselves and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they do what? They stumble. Some translations say they fall away, and I think that gives the right idea.
They fall away. And he says in verse 18, now these are the ones sown among thorns. They are the ones who hear the word and implied as they believe it, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
And then the fourth group, but these are the ones sown on good ground. This is obviously what we want. Those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit. Some 30-fold, some 60, and some 100. So how do you know the difference between a true convert and a false convert?
One thing, time will tell. Do they persevere? That's one thing. The second thing is, are they producing fruit? Is there any evidence in their life that would back up their profession of faith? But again, really time will tell.
Will they endure? Will they persevere? I just want to read some verses on this, this idea of persevering, keeping the faith. Philippians chapter 1 verse 6, this might be the the best verse on the subject.
He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. God preserves his own. Amen? Amen. If you sincerely believe in the Lord Jesus Christ tonight, you can know that you're saved, and you can know that you'll always be saved.
If you truly believe and are trusting 100 in Him, in His atoning death and resurrection for your salvation, 100 trust. Now if you're sitting here and you're like, yeah, maybe. What time is it? When's He gonna be done?
I mean that, I don't know. If you think I'm boring, that's fine. Your salvation doesn't depend on that, so that's okay. Another verse, Romans 11 verse 22, therefore consider the goodness and severity of God on those who fell severity, but towards you goodness.
If you continue in His goodness, otherwise you also will be cut off. Hebrews chapter 3 verse 14, hey this is important, this is eternal life. Hebrews 3 14, for we have become partakers of Christ if, there's that word again that keeps coming up, isn't that in 1st Corinthians 15 somewhere?
We'll talk about that too. Here's that word again, if. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. And then 2nd Timothy 2 12, if we endure, there it is again.
I didn't even notice this until just now. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will do what? Deny us. All right, let's turn to 1st John chapter 2. So time will tell. Is there fruit?
Is there evidence? But you can never really know, because ultimately the Lord has the final say, and it's not your place or mine. There's the parable of the wheat and the tares, that's something you could read that would apply.
And of course we could talk about all the verses, there's several verses that say, he who endures to the end shall be saved. He who endures to the end. Now there's some context surrounding that, but I think the statement is is true enough, you get the idea.
Now I'd like to briefly address this idea that people have, that you can lose your salvation. Again, there's people here, no doubt, who, and I'm one of them, I do not believe you can lose your salvation.
I believe, and I sure hope that's the doctrine of the church, otherwise they're never gonna invite me to speak here again. I'm assuming you're Baptist, right? So of course. Yeah, yeah, I was preaching for a funeral yesterday, and somebody said, I was watching, and there was a lady rolling her eyes during the whole, during the whole sermon.
That's okay, I can deal with that. Back in biblical times, you had to worry about them dragging you out back or throwing you off a cliff, so I don't mind people rolling their eyes. But I'd like to briefly address this idea that you can lose your salvation.
Some people believe that, some people teach that. There's probably somebody listening who believes you can lose your salvation. Both sides, people who say you can never lose it, people who say you can lose it.
Here's one thing we both agree on. Clearly there are people who fall away from the faith. That we both agree on. So the question then becomes, okay, did they lose their salvation, or did they never really have true salvation to begin with?
I think this verse, 1st John 2 19, answers the question. Look at 1st John 2 19. The Apostle says, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.
But they went out that they might be made manifest that none of them were of us. Jesus also, in the parable, an illustration he gives of the wheat and the tares, what happens, they they start growing together at first, and you really can't tell the difference between what he's talking about, people who truly saved and are not.
Wheat and the tares, they grow together. You can't tell the difference. Don't go try to go out and uproot the tares. You're just gonna make things worse. So do not use this sermon as an excuse to go around judge, well I don't think he's saved.
Look at him, and look at that person. Don't do that. But at the same time, Jesus in this parable, you know, when the wheat and the tares grow to maturity, then you can, after some time, you can start to tell the difference, at least when harvest time comes.
So it is with the false convert, over the course of time, they demonstrate their true nature, that they never really had true salvation to begin with. But it might take a long time to reveal that. So instead of persevering in the faith, what do they do?
They drop out. So at this time, I'd like to shift gears a little bit and talk about the reasons why people leave the faith, or at least the reasons that they give. I pulled some of this offline. I'm just gonna read some of it.
The top reasons why people leave the Christian faith. Some of you are already thinking, okay, what are they? What are they? One reason why people leave the faith is disappointment with God. When God doesn't seem to be hearing me or answering my prayers.
At that point, disappointment can set in. Often this is due to unrealistic and untrue expectations of what God was going to do in the first place. But it can also happen when God seems silent or unresponsive.
The thing that stood out to me here is the unrealistic expectations. You know, the way some famous preachers talk about Jesus, you would get the idea that Jesus was like a good luck charm. You know, just come to faith in Jesus and all these things will happen to you.
Health and wealth and prosperity, but even a cursory reading of the Gospels or the book of Acts should make it clear that in order to grow spiritually, we must endure trials. I mean, this is foolishness that if you believe in Jesus, he's gonna make you rich.
Where Peter and John said silver and gold, we have none. Jesus said the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. What a strange doctrine that is, but it's popular and you know why? Because this is what people want.
The unconverted heart wants to be healthy and rich. The most wicked man on earth, that's what he wants. That is not the gospel. But people have been duped into thinking that it is. They are duped into thinking that that guy on TV is actually a gospel preacher when he is not.
So here's the thing. Yeah, there's times where we're disappointed. Have you ever had your prayers not answered? Of course. Or we say, well, God did answer, he just said no. Right, well, here's the thing.
Christians, as far as expectations, Christians do suffer. Some of you are suffering right now. The difference is between us and unbelievers suffer too. The thing is, we have hope. They don't. Jesus doesn't come to take away all of our problems.
He comes and he gives us the strength to endure our problems. He can give you peace in the midst of a storm. That's what Jesus does. He doesn't come to fix everything. Not in this life. He will fix it in the next life.
Amen? Another reason people leave the faith, they don't feel connected. And this one I understand. They don't feel connected. There will be those people who are only expecting ministry, not participating in it.
And who aren't in community groups or actively involved in the work of ministry. The church leadership needs to do everything it can, but, you know, connecting largely is going to depend on that church member or attendee.
Whether or not he or she is proactive in making friends and getting involved. Members will almost always feel unconnected when they wait on the church to do something for them. So not only is it important for the church to be friendly and we go out of our way, and this is one great thing about this church I've noticed, that people go out of their way to be friendly and and greet people, but it's really going to depend on you.
If you don't feel connected, really it's on you. Get involved. If you don't feel fulfilled, start serving. Or if you have a complaint, you know, if you're busy, there's less time to complain. Amen? Church leadership will back me up on that, I'm pretty sure.
Okay, so make connections. Serve and, you know, when you greet people, when you see people, smile. This is a big thing. This is some real basic stuff. When you approach somebody, walk by them, smile and say hello.
How are you doing? Even small talk at first, you know, it's something to build on. And the next thing, this has to be huge. Another reason people leave the faith, distractions, right? Distractions. We live in a hyper busy world.
I'm reading from the article here. Our attention can jump from one thing to another. The man who wrote the article said, I have seen people who used to be really fired up, but now they have other priorities.
I'm on to a new business venture, and I really don't have time to be invested in spiritual growth. Or I signed the kids up for hockey, and we just don't have the time to make it to worship anymore. Or I've got this new hobby.
Or my daughter has cheerleading practice on Sunday morning, and we just don't have time. My friends, if golf or hockey or cheerleading is more important than the Lord Jesus Christ, you have an idol. Mark this down.
A distraction from faith leads to the destruction of faith. Did you hear that? A distraction from faith leads to the destruction of faith. What did Jesus say? Now these are the ones sown among thorns.
They are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke out the word. And it becomes unfruitful. I'm just gonna read one more reason, just one more, why people leave the faith.
I think this is the biggest one. In my opinion, this is the biggest one. Desires. I want to sleep with her. I want to sleep with him. I met somebody. Really, what they don't want is the Lordship of Christ.
I want to live my life, my way, on my terms. I want to do what I want, when I want, how I want to do it. And they walk away from Jesus. You know, either Jesus is Lord, or you're Lord. It's one of the two.
There's people who say, well, I've accepted Jesus as my Savior. I just haven't except accepted him as my Lord. What? Well, make Jesus the Lord of your life. And I would say, okay, yes, that's what I would say to you.
Make Jesus the Lord of your life. He's already the Lord of your life. You just haven't realized it yet. The question is, are you going to bow the knee willingly, or the other way? Now, I want to take a moment.
If anyone finds themselves drifting, maybe some of this hurts a little bit. Be mad at me. Don't be mad at the pastor, okay? Be mad at me. But if somebody feels like you're drifting, hey, everyone's felt like that at times.
Maybe some of those things come a little too close to home. You know, you can recommit your life to Jesus Christ tonight. The scripture says in 1st John chapter 1 verse 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Psalm 86 verse 5, for you, Lord, are good and ready to forgive and abundant in mercy to all who call upon you. Amen. Amen. Now, let's turn back to 1st Corinthians 15, and we'll close. 1st Corinthians 15, the perseverance of the saints.
Again, the word perseverance is defined this way, to continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success. You know, I just don't feel like I'm getting anywhere.
I'm going to quit. No, you won't quit. If you truly believe in Jesus, he's going to hold on to you. There's some of us, if it was up to us in our own strength, we would never be able to do it. But Christ is a powerful Savior, and he's not going to let go.
1st Corinthians 15, 1 and 2, moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if, there's that word again, if, you are saved if you hold fast that word which I preached to you.
Someone might say, but pastor, that word if, is that really in the Greek? Have you noticed this? When somebody doesn't like what you say, well, what does the Greek say? Well, let's go back to the Greek and see.
Well, it is in the Greek, actually. You can look it up yourself, the Greek word I, it is a conjunction, a primary particle of conditionality, right? There's a condition here, a primary particle of conditionality joining together the concept of salvation with endurance or holding fast that word that was preached.
Otherwise, Paul says, you believed in vain. So to put it plainly, if you don't remember anything else I said, remember this, you're only saved if you persevere. You're only saved if you persevere. So in conclusion, the test of whether a person's faith is real, really the last day, it's whether or not you hold fast or from God's perspective that he's holding you.
Amen. Let's pray. Our father, how grateful we are that you preserve your saints. And Jesus said, not even one shall be lost. And in this, we rejoice. And Lord, I'm reminded of what the apostle Paul said right before his death.
He was able to rejoice by saying, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. And Lord, that's my prayer for everybody sitting here and listening online, that we would keep the faith.
In all God's people said, amen.
